#especially after meeting all these new people

[suiana]

yandere! loser who's chronically online and thinks that the world is ending because he can't find love. or rather, can't get a lover because wdym he's had a crush on you for five years and is STILL single!!!

bro's the type of guy to complain on reddit about being single and not do anything afterwards even if people give him advice. bro's the type of guy to say he's going to die alone and continue sitting in his room while watching lego building videos. bro's the type of guy that... also stalks you intensely after one single conversation where he thinks you're his one and only.

this guy probably thinks he's tough shit or something but cannot for the life of him, ask you out on a date like a normal person. forget that! he can't even get out of his house!

he lives off of his parents money (thank goodness they're rich) and doesn't work. why? because he says his dream job is to be rich and unemployed (successfully done btw). sooo no, he's probably not gonna be inheriting his father's company and be the hot rich alpha ceo you were dreaming of.

you'll get this weirdly obsessed loser though.

he's the ultimate loser! and in this ultimate loser pack you have gacha addict, fucked up sleep schedule, virgin, 70 different hyperfixations, reddit user, stalker, 4chan user, compsci graduate, have i mentioned stalker? yeah, definitely stalker.

stalking... heh, guess you could say he has a job... that is, if you count stalking and watching over you 24/7. yeah, that's right. the feeling you get that you're being watched even at home? that's him.

sure, he might be jacking off to surveillance footage of you, watching gf/bf asmr and pretending it's you talking to him... oh and also he might've built a mini shrine with things he 'borrowed' from you...

but really, you should just be glad he isn't doing more heinous things. for all you know he could be doxxing or manipulating you to be with him! god, that would be horrific. especially because we all know what 4chan and reddit users can be like.

like he's... weird to say the least. but it could be worse than just obsessed, crazy, and delusional. yeah, so what if he's thinking of scenarios that don't exist? scenarios that involve you, to be specific?

you don't even remember meeting him but he's gone and created a life for the two of you in his head already. for five years, if i must add. like... that's bloody crazy innit?

and he's also british.

yeah so😝

don't worry, he's crazy devoted! some might call him a yearner, others say he needs to be amditted to a hospital. whatever! they just don't understand him.

but you do, don't you? you have to! you're his one and only (one sided)! he's already planned the both of your weddings out, bought you TONS of gifts- you received his presents before right? yeah, those new headphones you wanted? you got it a few weeks back. your college debt? remember how it was mysteriously paid off? yeah, and the fact that you were happy about it must mean that you accept his advances!

yeah! g'luck mate you're going to be called darling REAL soon 🤑 hopefully. jost hope you don't get asked out on a date... he might do a little shanking 😵☝️

[22ayla21]

Harassment Part II

No matter how well-mannered the guys are, within the walls of Night Raven College, there are those who will start harassing guests from another world.

Warning: unpleasant content, mentions of harassment, if you are uncomfortable, do not read. Fem! Reader.

Third year Second year First year

Riddle Rosehearts

Riddle will not tolerate even the slightest hint of inappropriate behavior. If someone dares to disrespect his beloved, he will intervene immediately, using his magic if necessary. Depending on the severity of the situation, he may impose severe punishment.

Realizing that there are well-behaved students in the school, but also those who do not adhere to proper standards, Riddle may propose a new set of rules regarding the respectful treatment of the girl. He may even organize a meeting in the dorms to make it clear to everyone that she will not be treated with disrespect.

After the incident, he will most likely become even more attentive to her surroundings. He may begin to accompany her when possible, or assign one of his trusted people (such as Trey or Ace and Deuce) to ensure that no one crosses the line.

Although Riddle is strict, he is not used to showing excessive emotion. If the harassment affects his lover, he may experience not only anger for the first time, but also a deep sense of personal responsibility for her well-being. This will cause him to question whether he is truly protecting her as he should.

After the threat is removed, Riddle may be concerned for his lover, but will express this in a more measured manner. He will ask if she is okay, and perhaps offer her tea to help calm her down. Internally, he will be very worried and will reproach himself for not preventing the situation sooner.

Ruggie Bucchi

Ruggie is a man who does not like to get involved in problems without benefit. If he notices that someone is being pushy towards his beloved, he will most likely first observe the situation, trying to understand how serious it is. If the girl can handle it herself, he will simply keep the situation under control, but if he sees that things are going too far, he will intervene.

Ruggie knows how to work with people, especially if they are dumber than him. He can first approach the harassers with a wide smile and a friendly tone, as if he does not notice the problem, and offer them to "talk" in private. However, the conversation will be far from peaceful - he will subtly threaten them, using their weaknesses: "You don't want anyone to know about your failed exams, huh?" or "You don't want to lose your lunch next week, do you?"

If the situation is serious, but he does not want to get his hands dirty, he can involve Leona. After all, he is his right hand, and he knows how to present information correctly. He can casually say something like: "Oi, Leona-san, it seems like there's a guy here who's trying to flirt with someone else's girl. Do you think I should give him some advice?" Leona doesn't like to interfere, but if he's irritated, he can simply intimidate the offender or accidentally put him in his place.

Ruggie won't openly yell or hit people, but he will protect his beloved in any way he can - cunning, intimidation, manipulation, and hidden threats. He won't tolerate anyone causing her discomfort, but he will do everything so that he himself doesn't have any problems.

Azul Ashengrotto

Azul is a person who knows how to keep a straight face. If he finds out about harassment, he will pretend that nothing happened at first, but in reality, he is already planning how to eliminate the problem. He will not make a scene, but will choose a more sophisticated method of punishment.

He may approach the offenders with a friendly smile and offer a "favorable" deal that will leave them at a loss. For example, he may create a contract that seems to give something tempting, but in reality will turn out to be a punishment - perhaps they will lose their vote for a week, or their special magic for a month or more.

If the offenders are important figures in the school (from rich families or influential clubs), he will not act directly, but will use cunning manipulation. He can spread rumors, frame them in the eyes of others, or convince the heads of other dorms of their unreliability.

If the situation gets out of hand, he can call Floyd or Jade. Floyd is a "fun" guy, and the idea of scaring or beating up bullies is likely to appeal to him. Jade, being more subtle, may "accidentally" arrange for these guys to have discipline problems.

After the incident, Azul may become more attentive and caring. He may subtly add little bonuses to her day, such as asking her to stay at the Monstro Lounge where she will be safe, or suddenly inviting her on outings to keep her away from unpleasant people. If he sees that his beloved is truly scared, it will hit his insecurities. He will feel like he is not good enough, since he could not protect her. This may lead to him becoming even more secretive, but also more brutal in his methods.

Floyd Leech

Floyd is a man of mood, so his reaction to the harassment of his beloved may depend on what state he is in at the moment.

If he is in a good mood, his first reaction may be playful and mocking. He may come up, put his arm around his beloved's shoulders, smile at the impudent one, and lazily say something like: "Oh, you probably don't know... but the shrimp is already taken~" His smile may seem friendly, but it will intuitively become clear that it is full of hidden threat.

However, if this person continues to pester, Floyd will quickly lose all humor. A dark light will appear in his eyes, he will literally freeze for a second, and then instantly be next to the offender, grabbing him by the shoulder or collar, squeezing with a force that can crunch the fabric. His voice becomes low, and the intonations are frighteningly slow. Depending on his mood, Floyd can either intimidate the bully or outright threaten him physically (but not in a way that would make him answer to the teachers later).

If he is already irritated, he will skip the mockery stage and immediately move on to intimidating behavior. He can grab the bully by the neck, wrist, or even press him against the wall with such force that he will stop breathing for a second.

"Huh? Who gave you permission to touch my shrimp? Come on, explain it to me while your ribs are still intact." At this point, his voice will be low and the pressure will be noticeable.

If his beloved tries to stop him, Floyd can immediately calm down, hug her and say: "You don't like it? Okay, I won't... But he won't bother me anymore, I promise~" However, he can send an icy look to the bully at the end, showing that he remembered his face. In any case, whoever dared to pester his beloved, that person would either learn a memorable lesson or be afraid to even look in her direction next time.

Jade Leech

Jade never shows his irritation or anger openly. He will continue to smile, speak politely and act as usual, but at the same time he will carefully watch anyone who approaches his beloved with inappropriate intentions.

If someone crosses the line, Jade will most likely not make an open scene. Instead, he will gently remind the offender not to do something he will later regret. His voice will remain soft, his smile - friendly, but the coldness in his eyes and slight hints will make it clear that he is quite capable of making a person's life a nightmare.

If someone really goes too far, that person will suddenly start to face minor (and sometimes major) troubles: their things will mysteriously disappear, someone will trip them up, and their reputation among the students will begin to fall for no apparent reason. And no one will guess that Jade is behind it - except, perhaps, Azul and Floyd, who will only smirk.

Jade can ask her with a slight smile: "Oh, my dear, what exactly will you do with these people? Perhaps you will allow me to help a little?" He will watch her reaction, checking how capable she is of standing up for herself - but if necessary, he will personally make sure that no one bothers her anymore.

Unlike her brother, who could immediately start a fight or start chasing offenders, Jade acts covertly. However, if his beloved is really in danger, he will not stand on ceremony - perhaps no one will ever know where that impudent man who allowed himself too much disappeared to.

Kalim Ali-Asim

Despite his cheerful and easy-going personality, Kalim cares deeply for those he loves. He would be greatly concerned if someone were to harm his beloved. This sense of protection would show in his actions, and he would try to intervene as quickly as possible to stop such harassment.

While Kalim may not be the most agile and is sometimes naive, he would try to actively intervene to protect his beloved, even if it meant failing or looking awkward. He would perhaps try to resolve the situation peacefully, but if that did not work, he would not be afraid to take advantage of his position or perhaps ask Jamil or other friends for help.

Kalim, being a man with good intentions, might not immediately understand the gravity of the situation. He might take action, such as speaking in a friendly manner to those who violated his boundaries, but his sincerity might not be taken seriously, especially when it comes to people with less well-mannered behavior.

Despite his naivety, Kalim has the ability to be decisive. He might engage in more decisive actions, such as reporting the incident to his teachers or older students. His desire to protect others, especially those he loves, would be motivated by a desire to not let anyone be humiliated or hurt.

He might display naive but sincere kindness, while not always clearly understanding how to effectively deal with such situations. It is important to note that his primary actions would come from a desire to protect and support, rather than a desire to demonstrate his power or status. He would console her, trying to strengthen her spirit, and encourage her so that she does not feel alone or helpless in this situation.

Jamil Viper

Jamil, who is used to avoiding attention and hiding his true intentions, might try to stay out of the way and remain on the sidelines at first. He would initially choose to keep a low profile to avoid making the situation worse or putting himself at risk, especially if he felt that interfering could lead to further complications.

Despite his calm exterior, Jamil is an intelligent and experienced man. He would likely use his knowledge and skills to eliminate the threat quietly and without unnecessary noise. This could involve using manipulation or influential people to quell the harassment without drawing unnecessary attention to himself.

As a man with a strong sense of responsibility, Jamil would likely feel obligated to protect his lover, especially if she is new to a world she is not accustomed to. Even if he would prefer to remain in the shadows, he might find a way to protect her, even if it means using his hidden abilities a little.

Jamil, despite his polite and calm exterior, may hide a deep rage inside. If harassment were to become overt, he would control his emotions, but he could probably act tough in the shadows, finding ways to punish those who violate boundaries. This could manifest itself in more subtle actions, such as provoking violators through manipulation or using social connections.

As a person who hides his true feelings, Jamil may experience an internal conflict. He may, on the one hand, feel the desire to protect his lover and show his strength, and on the other, he may be afraid of revealing his true potential and desire to be recognized. This can lead to internal tension, where his hidden ambition clashes with his desire for a quiet life without unnecessary attention.

Jamil may try to solve the problem with the help of influential people, such as older mentors or teachers, if the situation gets out of control. He could turn to someone who would be able to influence the offenders without revealing his own efforts.

Silver Vanrouge

Silver would probably react with his usual seriousness and restraint. First of all, he would be wary and extremely attentive to the safety of his beloved. Despite his tendency to fall asleep in unexpected situations, when it comes to Malleus or loved ones, he is capable of showing unusual determination.

If the harassment comes from students, he would try to politely but firmly intervene, warning them that such actions are unacceptable. However, if the situation gets out of hand, he will not hesitate and may become aggressive, revealing his hidden but strong side. At the same time, his reaction can be restrained and almost cold-blooded, with the intention of eliminating the threat without unnecessary emotions.

Silver will probably not make loud scenes or public conflicts, preferring to resolve everything within the framework of discipline and respect. If the situation continues to deteriorate, his tendency to silently threaten and give a cold stare will make his behavior intimidating to those who violate his boundaries.

After the harassment incident, Silver will take special care of his girlfriend with special attention and care. He will monitor her safety, offering support and reassurance that she is safe with him. His actions will be quiet but caring: he will accompany her wherever necessary and often show his attention through small gestures, such as supporting her in difficult moments or protecting her from possible threats. His care will be shown through protection, not words, and he will try to make her feel safe and protected.

[djcandiepaws]

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚ yandere! crossdresser x reader

summary: a fanfic introduction to yan!crossdresser cw: stalking, mentions of murder, and implications of masturbation!

You had recently moved to a new state due to your mother being given a job offer in a state completely different than yall's previous one.

When you transferred it was lowkey hell. I mean, obviously you were exempt from assignments prior to you coming because you JUST transferred. But even so its a different state so there's obviously different teachers with completely different teaching styles, and not only that but also new topics. Some of which you weren't taught beforehand.

It was tough to catch up, and especially with math. They were teaching a topic you weren't taught in your other school yet and to make matters worse they were already well into the unit and so you were pretty much behind from the start.

One day you were in class struggling to listen to the teacher. She goes over stuff a bit fast and you're one of those students that have trouble asking for help so right off the bat it was a bad start.

Soon the class ended and you were about to get your notebook and leave until you feel a tap on your shoulder. That's how you met her. Or him? It's confusing. Like you saw the teacher call him by male pronouns yet, I don't know, they look like the epitome of feminine beauty, it's intriguing. "Hey! I saw you were struggling to keep up with notes in class. If you want you can take a picture of mine, I don't mind at all! Especially since you're a new student and all!" He chuckled while uttering the last bit.

You're very thankful for the help but oh my god.. He's ethereal. It's honestly fair how perfect he is. He doesn't even seem human, I mean, he's androgynous which people say is like peak attractivity, he seemingly gets good grades, and he seems kind so far? Like he's offering up his notes, and as far as you know he hasn't done anyone dirty, well that you know of. He's so perfect it's uncanny.

He nervously fidgets with the ends of his hair due to him noticing your very obvious staring. "Uhhh, is there something wrong?" You instantly snap out of it and become flustered after realizing how you must've made him a bit self conscious with how hard you were staring.

"I'm sorry! Also, yes, thank you! I was struggling really bad with this lesson. It's been hard to keep up!" You reply feeling a bit bad with how you obviously made him feel. "I understand that, I just transferred a few months ago but trust me it gets easier to stay on top of stuff. Actually, after school would you mind meeting up with me at the library and we could study together and maybe even grab lunch after?" Honestly your eyes lit up the moment he said that. This could get you on top of your grades and finally get you passing!

"Yes! Of course! Thank you!" Instinctively you hug him tightly. He gives you the pages of his notes and you take a few snaps of them. Y'all also save each others numbers in your phones to keep in touch. This honestly feels like your lucky day, your grades mean everything to you and to get the upper hand by meeting this guy feels like winning the lottery!

As for him? Poor you just existed and he's love-struck by you already! Even before officially meeting you he's been watching you around the school. Taking pictures of you openly but using him being in the photography club as an excuse when people question him (he isn't in ANY club). He often goes to the same places he sees you visit/pass by to catch glimpses of you, and when he does he goes in his notes app and writes down the places you go to/pass by and writes at what time you often visit so he can be there when you pass by again.

Sometimes he'll follow you home closely behind you and take photos of you and he REALLY likes the photo he took he keeps it in a special ribbon box of photos he especially likes of you and keeps it for his alone time. It might seem creepy but you have to understand he loves you and he will do absolutely anything to get you to himself, maybe he would even kill if need be.

[waynes-multiverse]

But You'll Laugh The Whole Time

Yup!! Promises made, promises kept!! I was in fucking stitches throughout this whole fic and it was goddamn worth it 😂🩵

“Sweetie, he could be my daddy any day of the week.” Kay winks and throws back her shot. 

No, stawp!! I have to watch Tarzan and Finding Nemo with my kid. I can't think about this 🤣

And I'm a Flynn Ryder apologist as well lmao

“Check out green eyes over there. Holy shit, I’d let him rock me like a hurricane all day and all night!”

Oh, she better not tell him that. He'll never let this down 😂 And I'm so excited to see how the night progresses. That summary already had me hooked. I described Russell in a fic as the "green-eyed chaos theory" and judging by this, you have that very same HC and it makes me super giddy 🤣👏💚

“The kind of man who would make you forget all about that physics test?” Liza raises an eyebrow. “The kind of man who would break the laws of physics with you all night long?” Kay adds.

Oh, I'm sure he'll make her forget about gravity, at least 😝

And I'd like to note I got very invested in this friend group and their conversations and personalities. That's definitely not easy to do (especially in fanfics lol), so kudos to you here!! 👏 (I loved Matt's character btw)

They were everything you wanted in your own relationship. A beautiful merging of crazy (from you) with someone stable and structured

Uhm... Oh, girl, I don't think stable and structured is what you're getting here 😂

“Oh that lion did it for me too.” The man leans closer to you and you can feel your knees getting weak. “She definitely had bedroom eyes.”

I can't with this game 🤣🤣 This will forever haunt me...

Unfortunately, you pull him just a little too hard, with a little too much enthusiasm, and he falls off the stool with a startled cry in surprise and knocks his head into yours. 

My radar was so wrong. How could it be this wrong? He was so caring and kind- That’s what they said about Ted Bundy. 

EXACTLY 💀

“Please wait. I can explain!”

I was waiting for that lol. And I did not see it coming at all that it would actually reference her witnessing him murder someone! Yeah, that will be fun to explain away haha. Loved how she didn't believe him at all that he was attacked first 😂

Why are all the hot ones crazy? Why couldn’t he have just been a bad kisser? Or maybe a little too loud? Why is his flaw that he freaking MURDERS people? 

Laughing so hard throughout this! This is glorious comedy 🤣🤣 I wish this was an actual movie lol

At this point it was either be killed by the beautiful stranger or killed by the other guys, and being killed by the other guys meant that you’d have to meet someone new and look where that had gotten you tonight.

I loved that reasoning. As an introvert, I truly felt that 😂🫶

He frowns and shrugs his shoulders. “Because it’s hurting my feelings a little bit.”

Awww 🥹

Why did that get to me? What the fuck is wrong with us for liking these train wrecks? 🫠🫠

Aaaah omg I loved this so much! I honestly could read more of them!! 😍 Where are they going? What about her friends? Will she ever return? Who are these fucking people that are after Russell? 👀

This was so hilarious, Lee!! I'm currently battling a cold, so this was the perfect medicine 🩵🩵🩵

And I kept this for last:

👉 Hear me out – Scratch from Ice Age. I wish he'd hold me like that nut...

I Can Explain!

Pairing: Russell Shaw x f!reader, Reader POV

Prompt: "How Do You Know Where I Live?"

Requested by: @vixaaa

Summary:  When you meet a gorgeous green-eyed stranger at a bar and agree to go home with him, everything goes off the rails and you're strapped in for the ride.

Tropes: Awkward Rom-Com? Forced Proximity? Protective Russell.

Word Count: 10.6 K (But You'll Laugh The Whole Time)

Warnings: An Unhinged Game of "Hear Me Out," References to Sex, Sexual innuendo, Little bit of self-deprecating thought (reader), Reader is kinda awkward and clumsy, Gunfire, Weapons, Talk of Murder, Shooting?, Brief Description of Torture, Brief Description of Murder, Terror, Fear, Cursing, Kissing, I think that's everything? I promise this one is a rom-com despite all the warnings. 😅

Note: This is told from Reader's perspective. Any references to the reader is made using you or your. There is no use of y/n. I tried my best to proofread, but nobody's perfect. If you don’t like, don’t read, but if you do like, you’re my favorite!

Internal monologue is in italics and is in first person.

Main Masterlist

Prompt Celebration Masterlist

A/N: Hey guys! This is another wonderful prompt request that I got for my prompt celebration from the enchanting @vixaaa! This one is based a little bit on the movies "Knight and Day" and "RED." If you've never seen either of those, go and watch them right now. They are some of my favorites!

P.S: Yes, this is the one I've been writing that has just been making me wheeze/cackle laugh the whole time I wrote it...

“Alright, hear me out… Gil, the angelfish from Finding Nemo. There is no way in hell he was made for kids.” Your friend Liza says wobbling slightly on the plush leather bench seat of the booth before taking a shot of vodka. Her peacock blue No. 2 hair shimmers like a beacon in the dimly lit bar. 

“That’s low hanging fruit.” Kay snorts from your left while leaning heavily into your shoulder, the smell of her vanilla perfume wafting up with the movement. “That scar? The tragic backstory? And voiced by Wilem Defoe? Sign me up.”

You giggle into the shot glass clasped in your hand before you knock it back, face scrunching at the taste and pleasant burn.

The “Hear Me Out” drinking game your two best friends proposed to clear your head from the nuclear level bombing of an exam you just took in your Physics One class, had been successful so far. You couldn’t remember any of the questions from the test that made you scream obscenities into the strawberry shaped pillows on the couch in your living room earlier. Exactly where the two of them had found you when they got back to your shared apartment at the end of the day.

The live music in the crowded bar thrummed through your veins and the shots were giving you just the right amount of buzz to feel more carefree than you had in the past week. The week that you’d spent approximately one million hours studying for the test and trying to memorize all the formulas that looked exactly the same. 

Four times you’d fallen asleep on your computer and had the imprint of the keyboard on your cheek, three times you’d had a mental breakdown and decided to change your major promising yourself that you were sure you could make it doing freelance whatever the fuck sounded good at that moment, and you couldn’t count the number of times that you’d gone to the library to study only to get distracted by whatever else was better than studying for a physics test.

Spoiler alert, there are a lot of things that are.

But you knew you were screwed the second you saw the first question and the rest of them had only been the final nails in the coffin that was the dream of getting an “A” in the class before the semester was over. 

The glimmering sheen of hope at the end of the semester you once had, was ebbing to a dim lantern being swung by a lighthouse keeper in a hurricane, hence the large tray of vodka sitting prettily on the water ringed table in front of you.

You were sure to regret every single shot, but your next exam was two days away and you didn’t want to think about it yet, not when the shadow of the last was poking you in the back with a pencil like someone looking for your final piece of gum.

For a Tuesday night, Duke’s, the bar the three of you frequented so often that the rotating circle of bartenders knew you all by name, was crowded.

There was the familiar glow of the neon signs posted on every wall, a new band performing a set on the small stage in the corner, a collection of screaming girls in the front row of the crowd snapping photos and drooling over the base player, a group of frat guys shouting obscenities at a tv blasting a football game, and a few patrons trying to unwind from a long day while nursing multi colored drinks and sitting sporadically around the crowded bar while the bartender of the hour leaned against the counter and tried to hear orders people shouted over the din. 

You would have been more than happy to spend the evening on the couch eating a greasy pizza and drinking margaritas back at the apartment, but Kay and Liza refused to let you rot on the couch. 

The three of you had been inseparable since freshman year when you’d been assigned as roommates together. Liza was an art major hoping to illustrate book covers one day, Kay was a hardworking pre-med student, and you were… undecided. Physics 1 had been the idea of your advisor, who after a year of trying to get you to declare a major was close to throwing in the towel, you believed that he was using Physics 1 as a form of payback for driving him almost to the point of early retirement. 

“Okay, okay I see you.” Kay giggles, before grabbing a fresh shot. Her long black hair is pulled back from her face with a claw clip, but a few pieces bob around her head with the movement of her head to the music. “And I raise you Kerchak from Tarzan!”

“The daddy gorilla?” Liza asks, leaning into her fiance, Matt, where he lounges back against the faded maroon leather beside her. 

There was a half full glass of beer sitting in front of him, one he’d ordered when he found out what everyone else at your table was drinking. But he’d been a good sport so far despite all of his suggestions to the game being so obvious there was no reason for him to defend his choice and the rest of you mocking him endlessly for it. 

“Sweetie, he could be my daddy any day of the week.” Kay winks and throws back her shot. 

“You’re disgusting.” Liza rolls her eyes, refusing to take a shot to agree with Kay. 

“Hey! What happened to ‘we listen and we don’t judge?’” You interrupt, putting your arm around Kay who holds up a middle finger in answer to Liza’s taunt.

“Where was that when I said Jessica Rabbit two turns ago?” Matt grouses from his side of the table, crossing his large arms over his chest. His blond hair had tumbled out of the bun at the back of his neck to cover the grass stain on the collar of his jersey. He’d come straight from practice when Liza called. 

And then Kay and you had to suffer through the long make out session the two of them had when they reunited as if they’d been separated by war for fifty years and not two hours. They were recently engaged and you loved Matt, which is why you’d let them make out for exactly thirty seconds before Kay and you started making exaggerated gagging noises while they kissed. 

Kay’s boyfriend hadn’t been able to get out of work, but Kay was going to walk to the coffee shop inside the library to pick him up when the tray of shots in the center of the table sat empty. Usually you’d worry about that sort of thing, your friend walking alone on campus at night, but because Kay had the highest tolerance out of all of you, Matt included, and a total badass who welcomed the challenge of anyone who tried to test her, you were willing to let it slide. 

That and the three of you tracked each other’s location with your phones.

“Because Jessica Rabbit isn’t a hear me out! Everyone knows that she’s super sexy!” You argue. “She doesn’t fit the criteria of this game!”

“She’s right babe.” Liza says, squeezing his arm with a sympathetic smile. “But it’s okay. I love that you’re a basic bitch.”

“But she’s animated!” Matt exclaims, obviously confused.

“So? Flynn Ryder is animated and he’s every woman’s dream.” You shrug, picking up a glass to take your turn.

You begin to shuffle through the mental file folder you have on characters who possessed “the energy” that made them so attractive. Truthfully, Kay and Liza had already said most of the ones you were thinking.

“You want to talk about every woman’s dream?” Kay smirks, her eyes flick over to the bar. “Check out green eyes over there. Holy shit, I’d let him rock me like a hurricane all day and all night!” 

“I’ll be sure to tell Sean, your boyfriend of three years-” You begin to say, but Kay pinches your cheeks between her fingers and turns your head so you can see who she’s talking about. 

Oh.

The stranger sitting at the bar is everything she suggested and more. He’s the kind of handsome that didn’t exist outside of the stack of communal romance novels that sat on the bookshelf in your living room and served as the perfect reminder of how single you were. 

The man is taller and broader than any of the so-called boys you went to class with each day, his tight fitting dark t-shirt pulling up over muscular arms that rippled with taunt muscles and were decorated with smoky tattoos curling beneath the ink colored sleeves. His chocolate colored hair is long and pushed back over his head, but a few strands hang forward to frame a well defined jaw covered in a thick dusting of facial hair.

Your throat suddenly gets very tight. 

The man’s gaze is focused on you, the green of his eyes brilliant, crinkled just around the edges with his smile. He winks and your entire face takes on the identity of a strawberry with your flush.

“Holy shit!” Kay nudges you. “You have to go over there.”

“What?” You squeak. “Are you insane? That guy is-”

“The kind of man who would make you forget all about that physics test?” Liza raises an eyebrow.

“The kind of man who would break the laws of physics with you all night long?” Kay adds. “Babe, come on, it's been months for you. Why don’t you go over there and say hi?”

“No way.” You shake your head vehemently, hyperventilating a little bit at the thought of going up to a complete stranger. 

You were not the confident girl in the group that did that. Kay was. It was exactly how she had met her boyfriend Sean three years ago, by using a cheesy pick up line that made him snort so hard he had beer coming out of his nose. Liza wasn’t much better. She’d met Matt in this very bar when her heel broke and she stumbled into where he was sitting with his friends at the bar. 

And the truth was it had been a few months since the last relationship (if you could call it that) fizzled out… and with both of your friends in relationships you often were the awkward fifth wheel. It wasn’t that you didn’t like your friends' boyfriends, Matt and Sean were great and they always did their best to make you feel comfortable whenever you were out with everyone, but you were kinda tired of being the spare tire.

“I don’t think we should be encouraging her to go off somewhere with a random man from a bar that she just met.” Matt says with a frown. 

Matt often held the braincell in your friend group and was the one who was more focused on making sure that everyone was safe. He was the one who followed up with a text whenever someone left to go home, the one who made sure that everyone stayed together when you were out late, and was usually the designated driver. 

“You’re such a hypocrite.” Liza boops Matt on the nose. “You were a random man that I’d never met before. And if I’m not mistaken we met in this very bar.”

“That’s different.” Matt sighs, but he leans towards Liza, the tension dissipating from his shoulders as he looks at her and his frown slips into a smile. 

They were one of those couples that no one ever thought would work. Liza was the carefree art major with no plan in the world and Matt was the All American, blue-eyed, blond haired football player that everyone said was “going to do great things” when in reality all Matt wanted to be was Liza’s husband. He didn’t care about anything else, but making her happy. Hence the giant engagement ring on her finger, the same one that he’d let her design because he knew that was important to her. 

They were everything you wanted in your own relationship. A beautiful merging of crazy (from you) with someone stable and structured, preferably someone with a strong jaw, brilliant green eyes and-

Great, he’s already invaded my subconscious. 

You glance up again to see if the stranger is still looking. He is, but this time his smile is just a little wider, and you watch his eyes drag down the length of your body for a moment appreciatively before flicking back up to yours and catches you doing the same thing. 

You weren’t wearing anything revealing, in fact, you hadn’t bothered dressing up to go out because you didn’t feel like it. You were still wearing the blank sweatpants and oversized sweatshirt combo that you’d worn to your exam. 

When you caught him looking at you, it made you regret you hadn’t worn something more eye-catching.

“Come on, that guy is checking you out! Go over there.” Kay nudges you, jostling the forgotten tequila shot in your hand. 

“He looks like trouble.” Matt says half-heartedly, but he’s too busy staring into Liza’s eyes to really care. Her hands are entwined at the back of his head pulling his forehead down to hers.

When it got to that point of the night, it usually meant that the two of them were about fifteen seconds from calling it an early night and going back to Matt’s apartment. Technically Kay would probably end up there as well because Sean was now Matt’s roommate and that meant you’d have the apartment to yourself…

“How can you tell? Are you looking at his reflection in Liza’s eyes?” Kay takes a shot from the collection of the remaining few in front of her.

“We all know that if Sean was here, you’d already be practicing your scuba breathing.” Liza gently brushes back the few strands of blond hair that hang forward into Matt’s face which only makes him sigh softly and look at her like she’s the last woman on earth. 

You try not to be jealous. 

Kay only rolls her eyes. “Alright, I’m taking initiative.”

“What does that mean?” You begin to ask, but Kay shoves you out of the booth and towards the handsome stranger who hasn’t taken his eyes off of you since your eyes met moments ago. 

“Kay. What the hell?” You turn back to look at her, but she’s already holding up your forgotten shot. 

“Take this and go over there.”

“But-”

“The only butt you should be thinking about is his, in those deliciously tight jeans. You will thank me in the morning.” She refuses to budge. “And then come home and tell me everything the two of you did, because Sean’s about to go visit his family for a week and I will need something to fantasize about.”

You wrinkle your nose in disgust, but then look to Liza hoping for help. Unfortunately she’s too busy counting Matt’s eyelashes to defend you. You look back at Kay who is still holding up the shot, gaze unwavering. 

I can’t believe I’m about to do this. 

You think to yourself with a sigh, before taking the shot, hoping that it will give you some of the confidence you need to talk to the most attractive man you’d ever seen in your life. 

I can do this, I can do this-

The internal monologue repeats itself over and over again with each step as you weave your way through the crowd to make it where the man is sitting, dropping your gaze to the people around you as if you’re more focused on them.

You weren’t, but staring at him while you were walking towards him seemed too predatory, and you could already feel how warm your cheeks were from your flush.

You grip the firm edge of the bar when you make it to him, using it to ground yourself there in the moment before you find the strength to meet his gaze.

There’s a faded green jacket hung over the high backed barstool behind him that you hadn’t noticed before.

Your eyes trace over his body, just a quick glance, but snags on his arms for just a second too long to be casual. They were even more glorious in person, tan and flecked with cinnamon colored freckles hidden beneath twisting tattoos that disappeared into his dark shirt sleeves.

“Hi.” You smile shyly at the man when you meet his gaze.

“Hi.” He rumbles with an easy smile while the green of his eyes flashes in the neon sign hanging behind the bar.

His voice catches you off guard. You weren't expecting it to be so smooth, silk over your skin, but also like the rough drag of the ocean against sand as it pulls it out to sea.

“Hi.” You say again as all other thoughts evaporate from you mind and you fight the urge to facepalm. 

What the hell am I doing over here? I might as well do the walk of shame back to my own table. 

Russell raises an eyebrow, his smile widening. “Hi.” He echoes.

You open your mouth-

“Before you say hi back sweetheart, why don’t you tell me what you’re drinking instead?” He winks making your cheeks warm with their flush.

Honestly, you were expecting him to be turned off by your somewhat awkward introduction, but if you bothered him, he doesn’t show it. He leans towards you curiously, eyes drinking you in. 

You clear your throat while your mind scrambles to come up with something appropriate or sexy to say other than ‘wow you’re pretty.’ You settle on. “Whatever you’re drinking.” 

Smooth real smooth. 

You glance back in the direction of where your friends are sitting as the man’s gaze turns to the bartender so he can order you a drink. Kay makes an obscene gesture with her hand that makes Matt kick her under the table, and Liza gives you an encouraging thumbs up.

Kill me now. 

You turn back to the man lounging against the bar, unaware that he’s watching you again. 

“You seemed like you were having some fun over there. What were you talking about?” He nods his head in the direction of your friends, the motion causing more of his dark hair to fall into his eyes and you fight the urge to push it back from his face and find out if it was as soft as it looked.

“Oh um.” Your mouth goes dry. The last thing you wanted to say to the gorgeous man was that your friends and you were discussing what animated movie characters turned you on. So you blurt out. “The First Law of Thermodynamics.”

It had clawed its way from the dark recesses of your mind where the rest of the test answers had been hiding from you when you tried to summon them earlier. 

“What?” The man laughs while you feel your face begin to blaze. 

“The First Law of Thermodynamics?” You clear your throat. “The theory that energy cannot be created or destroyed."

Where was that when I needed it for the test?

“Huh.” He smirks and takes a long sip from the beer in his hand. “Didn’t think Tarzan had anything to do with that.”

Oh sweet baby potatoes he heard the daddy conversation. Why couldn’t he have heard the Jessica Rabbit conversation instead?

“Ah.” You laugh awkwardly, realizing exactly what he overheard. 

The bartender puts down a bottle of beer in front of you and whirls away to another patron sitting on the opposite side of the bar. The band begins to play a new song, this one louder with more drums than the last one, causing the man to lean closer to you so you can hear him. 

“So.” The smell of the man’s cologne wafts over you. He smells like pine, mint, whiskey, and there’s an odd smell you can’t place, something that smells almost a little bit like smoke.

You ascribe it to cigarettes, but you don’t realize how wrong you are. 

There’s something about him, more than just how attractive he is or how good he smells that draws you in. Maybe you’d just been burned by far too many boys and were blinded by the man sitting in front of you, but he had a roughness and self-sufficient air that you found refreshing. 

He was assertive, sexy, with smoldering green eyes that somehow seemed soft and hard at the same time and filled you with an unholy amount of desire. 

“So?” You parrot, bringing the beer up to your lips, hoping that a sip will take the edge off. 

“Don’t you want to hear mine?” His voice is low and sultry, breath warming the air between the two of your faces. 

You sputter out a cough, choking on the sip you took in surprise, and his eyes widen in concern.The man brings his hand down against your back with a hearty smack to clear out your lungs.

“Are you okay?” 

“Never better.” You choke out, voice a little wheezy. “Wrong pipe.”

This is quickly becoming the most embarrassing moment of my life. 

“Are you sure?” The stranger’s eyes trace over you as if he fears you’ll start asphyxiating at any moment.

“Mhmm.” You clear your throat again. “What were you saying?”

“I asked if you wanted to hear mine.”

You suddenly forget how to breathe, the only thing grounding you to this moment is the hand you placed on the cherry wood of the bar. “Sure.”

“Rain.”

Despite the last few seconds of you feeling so awkward it made you want to sink into the floor like quicksand and the fact that your throat is still burning from when the beer went down the wrong pipe, your mouth quirks up in a smile. “The horse from Spirit?”

“Mhmm.” He smiles a little wider. “My little sister used to watch that movie non-stop, and there was always something about that horse.”

“Huh.” You muse taking another sip of the beer, this time successfully not choking on it. “I didn’t peg you for a horse guy. You seem more like a Nala person.”

“Oh that lion did it for me too.” The man leans closer to you and you can feel your knees getting weak. “She definitely had bedroom eyes.”

“She did!” You laugh at him. “The animators knew what they were doing.”

It was getting easier to talk to him now and you could feel your nerves slowly going out to sea. There’s a comfortable silence that fills the air between the two of you.

“Why did you say the First Law of Thermodynamics earlier?” He asks before taking a sip from his beer. The condensation trickles down the side of the glass to pool against the wood of the bar.

“Because I didn’t want to admit what we were talking about.” You answer honestly. “And I guess it’s still a little fresh in my mind-”

“Why?”

“I had a physics test today. Completely bombed it. That’s why my friends brought me out tonight, they were trying to make me forget it.” You wave a hand dismissively, but it was the first time you’d thought about the test in the past hour and it still stung a little bit. 

You were hoping that by this point of the night it wouldn’t have mattered anymore, but it did. Not to mention you didn’t exactly want to be talking about your most recent failure with a man who looked anything like he did. 

But something about him made you feel comfortable talking to him about things that were not on the pre-approved list of subjects you created when you spoke to people you were attracted to. He didn’t seem to just be some hot stranger in a bar, he seemed like he actually cared, and that he was invested in what you were going to say. 

It made him even more attractive. You weren't used to boys wanting to actually listen to anything you had to say.

“I’m sorry.” His face pulls down into a sympathetic frown. 

“Me too.” You sigh. 

“Maybe you didn’t do as bad as you think you did.”

“Oh I did. When I turned in the test, the professor made a face.” Your thumb rubs against the glass of the cold bottle clutched in your hand. “I studied all week for it and it kinda feels like I wasted all that time.”

The man studies you for a moment. “I think that if you learn something from it, then it’s not a waste. There are no accidents.“

“Are you purposely quoting Master Oogway to make me feel better or is that just a coincidence?” 

“He’s a smart turtle.” He laughs pleased with himself that he made you smile. “But you remembered the First Law of Thermodynamics. And I thought it was a nice pick up line. Might use that sometime.” 

“Shut up.” You laugh and raise your hand to hit him on the shoulder, but he catches it with his.

The contact of the rough palm of his hand in yours makes electricity zing through your body, bringing a wave of heat coursing behind it. 

“That’s not very nice. Keep trying to hit me like that and I might have to take you to court, Sweetheart.” He winks.

“Oh please-” 

“How else am I going to run into you again?”

“Well-” You swallow trying to find the next words, but they’re stuck in the back of your throat. 

I am so out of practice. 

“Well?” He raises an eyebrow in a silent challenge, the end of his perfect mouth teased upwards in a smile. 

“This doesn’t have to be goodbye.”

“What did you have in mind?” The heat of his gaze sends goosebumps dancing over your skin and you swear you can feel your heartbeat in the base of your throat. 

People do this all the time. I can say it. I can-

“Maybe-” You scoot closer to him, summoning some courage from the tequila. “Something like this.” 

Your free hand curls into the front of his shirt to pull the stranger closer for a kiss.

Unfortunately, you pull him just a little too hard, with a little too much enthusiasm, and he falls off the stool with a startled cry in surprise and knocks his head into yours. 

“Ow.” You groan rubbing at the red mark forming on your forehead. “I am so sorry.” 

By now your cheeks are so warm that you could fry an egg on them and you were sure you looked like a giant raspberry. You had never been so clumsy or so embarrassed in your entire life. 

“It’s okay, you just surprised me a bit.” The man says, but he’s peering at the mark on your forehead. “Are you okay?” 

How many times is he going to ask me that tonight? 

“Yeah the only thing that’s hurt is my pride.” You let out an awkward laugh. “I’m just gonna-“ You gesture with your thumb over your shoulder to signify that you’re going to leave. 

The anecdotes that your friends were going to tell from tonight had already begun to manifest in your head:

“Hey, remember that time you tried to flirt with a gorgeous man at the bar and you headbutted him?”

“Hey, remember that handsome stranger? The one you told all about your failed physics test instead of sleeping with him?”

“Wait.” He gently puts his hand on your waist, sending your heart into a gallop. “Can we try that again?”

“Huh?” You blink in surprise.

So far all you’d done was head butt him and tell him your sob story about failing your physics test. 

Worst seduction technique ever. 

“Don’t move.” He smiles. “Don’t want to have to take you to the hospital for a CT if you bump my head again.” 

It would have made you laugh if he wasn’t already kissing you.

It might just be the alcohol talking, or the fact that the last thing you kissed was the strawberry pillows on the couch in the living room last week when Liza, Kay, and you were watching your favorite paranormal tv show and you were imagining the male lead, but this kiss is nothing like any of the others you’d had in the past. 

His mouth devours yours, beard scratching against your cheeks in a way that makes your entire body buzz. The man’s hands tighten your waist to draw you closer, closing the space between your bodies, and all you can feel is the wonderful drag of his fingertips against the end of your sweatshirt, the burn of his beard, the press of his chest onto yours, and the tangle of his tongue as you sink further into him. 

A moan vibrates up through his chest and into your mouth that you echo with a soft sigh, your hands slipping over the taunt muscles before finding purchase against his back, your fingertips curling into the soft fabric of his t-shirt. 

The rest of the bar is rendered to a dull throb of life at the back of your mind, the man in front of you absorbing the rest of your attention as he should. He is nothing like anyone you’d ever met and you wanted to know more. You wanted to see the end of the odd shaped scar just at the base of his throat, trail your fingers over the dark tattoos that decorated his skin while searching for more in places you couldn’t yet see, and sink into the deep green sea of his eyes. 

“Better?” He breathes.

“Much, but if you’re not into that, I also know the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Just to give you something to remember me by.” You mumble against his lips, still slightly embarrassed. Your hands were still curled behind his strong shoulders, fingertips digging into the firm muscles.

“Beside the bruises?” He smirks before he kisses you again, the languid roll of his tongue against yours makes you forget your own name. “I’d very much like to hear it.” The rumble of his words vibrates through where your bodies are pressed against one another. “But first let me get the car and then I’ll let you tell me all about it.” 

He brushes his lips to yours one more time, before he puts cash on the bar, and leaves you breathless as he saunters away towards the front door. 

Holy fucking shit. How did that work?

“Girl Yes!” You hear Kay, before you feel her hands come down on your shoulders to shake you excitedly. “I was a little worried in the middle there for you with that head butt, but yes! That’s how you do it!” Her excited squeal brings you back down to earth from the cloud you were floating on with Russell. 

“Where’d he go?” Liza asks. Matt was holding her from behind, his chin on her shoulder as he slowly rocked her to the music.

“To get the car.” Your cheeks flush at the insinuation. 

“Fuck I am so jealous. The only thing I’m going to get to do tonight is Sean’s back.” Kay gives an exaggerated sigh. “It’s acting up and that means I’m going to have to give him a massage for an hour and not the good kind. It always knocks him out.” 

“Aww babe.” Liza says. 

“It’s okay.” Kay shrugs, but then sends her a saucy wink. “I can do some laundry. His washing machine has this spin cycle that makes me see stars.” 

“I didn’t need to know that you’ve been molesting our washing machine.” Matt closes his eyes as if trying to scrub the image from his mind. 

“It’s money well spent, Mattie.” Kay batts her eyes at him. 

He huffs, but then turns his gaze on you, his blue eyes are filled with concern. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay?”

“Yeah.” You shrug, nerves popping and sizzling inside so much that they might as well be giving off enough electricity to power New York City. “I don’t get a creepy vibe from him. I think he’s actually kind of nice.” 

It was true. Your radar was usually on point with things like this, and there was something about Russell that didn’t scream axe murderer. He seemed surprisingly laid back and honest, and you found yourself curious to know more about him. 

Matt doesn’t look convinced.

“It’s okay babe.” Liza says, swaying her and his body to the music. “We have the app on our phones and we all know the safe word.” She continues, referencing the word the three of you designated when everything was okay as well as the other word that meant everything was going terribly wrong. 

You didn’t think that you would need it. 

He sighs. “Fine, but if he tries anything weird-”

“What qualifies as weird for you?” Kay asks, raising an eyebrow. “I’ve always been curious about your kinks.” 

Kay always took pride in getting under Matt’s skin. You never knew why that was, only that it seemed to be her mission to make him crack. He never did. 

“Be safe.” He nods at you before he drags Liza towards the door. 

“Seriously babe.” Kay begins to back away. “Be safe. Because the last thing you want to pass right now is a pregnancy test.” 

“Why are we friends again?” You groan as you follow behind her, weaving through the mass of bodies writhing to the newest song. 

The air outside the bar is cooler, but there’s just a hint of something on the wind. Spring was coming, but it was still far enough away to leave just a light chill in the air. The street in front of Duke’s was populated sporadically with cars of varying shapes and colors, but you couldn’t help but wonder what kind of car the mysterious stranger drove. 

Why didn’t I ask him for his name? 

“Because you’d be lost without me.” Kay laughs at you, but then pulls you into a hug. “Have fun and please try not to think about that stupid test. You’re so smart and I promise that one test is not going to define your entire future. If that were true my first organic chemistry test would have come with a refrigerator box to live in, because that test was literally the stuff of nightmares.” 

She frowns at the memory. It was the first test that she had ever failed in her entire life, and although you were the one who usually obsessed over grades, it was the first time you’d ever seen Kay so disappointed. That was also because her professor had asked her to stop by for office hours and told her that there was no way she’d ever be able to get the grades she needed in his class. 

But a weekend marathon of Sex and the City listening to her mentor Samantha Jones, had brought her back to life and she’d sauntered confidently into the classroom armed with a flat white latte and sat in the front row at every lecture the rest of the semester. 

She’d gotten the highest grade in the class. 

Basically, Kay was your hero, that was the real reason why you were her friend. 

“I’ll try my best. Tell Sean hi for me.” You squeeze her just as tight, before she walks away down the darkened path back to campus where Sean would be waiting for her. 

There was an odd glow over the sidewalks tonight, a yellowed light that crawled along the cracked brick building that housed Duke’s and halted just shy of the opening of the alley that ran between Duke’s and the bank next door. No other people were visible. Even the small crowd that usually leaned against the rustic brick wall outside of the bar smoking was nowhere to be seen. 

It was odd.

You rub your hands down your arms with nervous anticipation. You’d slept with someone from a bar one time before, but one night stands were not your forte at all. The last time it’d happened, you’d gone back with a guy to his apartment only to find out an hour later when his girlfriend got home that he wasn’t single. She hadn’t seemed surprised that you were in bed with him, but you had been when she pulled out a switchblade the size of your hand and began to slash through the neatly arranged collection of plush squish-mallows on the floor while screaming obscenities at the guy.

In hindsight, maybe the squish-mallows were a clue that he was in a relationship. 

But you didn’t have any bad feelings about the man you’d met. He was attractive, witty, nice, funny, and he genuinely seemed concerned about you when you almost choked to death on a sip of beer. 

I will make him forget the entire awkward encounter. 

You promised yourself, but you also began to be a little bit nervous. You didn’t know why it was taking him so long to find the car. 

A bird caws overhead, sweeping low across the buildings, feathers an inky black in the night air, its shadow flickering across the moon. 

Another two minutes pass and you start to get antsy. 

Maybe he just left?

The thought brings a wave of disappointment over you. The stranger was the first person in a long time that you’d felt genuinely attracted to and now you couldn’t help but think that maybe he lied and when he said he was going to get the car, he really was trying to get away from you as fast as possible. 

You take a few steps in the direction that Kay left thinking that you might as well cut your losses and see if you can catch up, but hesitate. 

What if I leave and he comes back? What if-

An odd noise that sounds like a cat hacking up a hairball comes from the alley directly to your right, followed by the sound of something heavy hitting the pavement. 

You turn. Most of the alley is obscured in shadows, several large dumpsters jut out from grimy brick walls stained with God knows what, but you don’t see anything out of the ordinary. 

There are some lights fastened to the wall that runs the length of the bar, sending a dingy orange light over the bags of trash, empty flattened cardboard boxes, and plastic cups strewn over the wet ground. 

The door of Duke’s swings open for a moment, bringing the sounds and smells of the bar through the doorway as a woman enters tugging a sullen looking man behind her.

You turn your attention back to the empty alleyway, and catch the low rumble of a voice that sounds oddly familiar. It echoes through the darkness bouncing off the stone, metal, and bags of trash to where you stand at the dimly lit mouth of the alley.

That’s weird. 

Another sound follows the voice, a wet sounding thud that piques your interest. You take a tentative step forward into the darkness.

Wait. Isn’t this how every horror movie starts?

It was a valid question. But then you hear the voice again, it’s louder, vibrating against the brick and mortar, and it pulls your forward. 

Anxiety hums through your body as you inch down the alley, sticking to the well lit side that runs the length of Duke’s.

“Who sent you?” The familiar voice asks.

There’s no answer, and the sound of the cat choking up a hairball comes back. 

Someone needs to get Grizabella a glass of water.

You take another shaky step passing by the first dumpster before you reach the part of the alley that wraps around the back of the bar. 

At first you’re not sure what you see. The part of the alley behind the bar is more of a cramped street with a tire marked dirt path, bathed in awkward light from the moon and from a lazy streetlight that’s only half lit. There’s another dumpster back here, this one a little larger than the others you’d seen along the side of the building, but that isn’t what’s interesting. 

The image comes into focus. 

The stranger from the bar is standing there, his back to you, but he isn’t alone. The stranger has a man pinned to the dumpster, a large knife stabbed into the space between the man’s collarbone and his right shoulder while his other hand is clasped tightly around the man’s neck.

“Who sent you?!” The stranger roars, the knife digging into the man’s shoulder. 

Your entire body freezes in fear.

My radar was so wrong. How could it be this wrong? He was so caring and kind- That’s what they said about Ted Bundy. 

Your gaze drops to what you thought was a garbage bag at the green-eyed stranger's feet, but realize that it’s not a bag, it’s a body.

Holy shit he’s a murderer! Maybe if I just back away slowly-

You take a slow step backwards hoping to edge back into the alley that runs the length of the bar and forget this night ever happened, but instead of your foot finding solid ground, it finds a forgotten potato chip bag. 

The crinkled plastic crunches underfoot, breaking the still silence of the night. You inhale sharply and look up. Your gaze locks with the green-eyed man.

“I didn’t see anything.” You hold up your hands, backing away slowly. “Have a nice night.”

“Wait-”

“Nope.” You turn and flee down the alley hoping that someone is coming out of the bar at the exact moment who can witness the broad stranger chasing after you. His boots thud against the concrete, splashing through water in hot pursuit, contrasting against the plods of your own feet sloshing through puddles and through trash to get back to the light.

Before you make it halfway through the darkness, he grabs your arm and turns you to look at him. 

“Let me go!” You shriek, tugging at his grip, preparing to kick him between his legs, the only place that matters.

“Please wait. I can explain!” 

“You don’t have to explain!” You keep pulling at his arm. “I didn’t see anything! I don’t know who you are. And you know what? I wasn’t even in the bar tonight! I was back in my apartment watching Crime Scene Kitchen!” 

It was the first thing that popped into your head, but if it meant that you got to live, it would be your alibi.

He hesitates confused. “What’s Crime Scene Kitchen?”

“What? You just fucking murdered someone in an alley, you’re about to murder me, and that’s what you’re asking me?” You scream.

“I’m not going to murder you. And I was the one who was attacked!”

“Oh sure!” Fear clamps down hard on your throat squeezing the air coming in through your lungs. Tears begin to burn against your eyes as you try to release his grip. “Somebody help me!” You scream loudly trying to twist away from him and wishing that you’d brought your bottle of pepper spray or that you’d taken the self-defense class last summer with Kay or at least paid more attention to that scene in Miss Congeniality.

How could I have been so stupid? He’s going to kill me here and I’ll never know what that physics test did to my GPA. 

You frown slightly at that thought. It really is weird what goes through your head when you think you’re going to die. 

“Please, let me explain.” He says again, eyes wide and filled with an emotion that looks surprisingly like regret.

His dark hair has fallen forward over his cheeks that are flecked with blood, but the lights that line the wall of the dark alley perfectly frame his face. He looked like a model for a beer commercial or one that they’d roughed up a little for those weird perfume commercials you saw that never made any sense, but were always intriguing. 

Why are all the hot ones crazy? Why couldn’t he have just been a bad kisser? Or maybe a little too loud? Why is his flaw that he freaking MURDERS people? 

As you think that, there is a little voice inside your head that asks: Could I be okay with that? 

NO! OF COURSE NOT!

“There’s nothing to explain! You’re a murderer! You just killed those people!” You aim a kick at his crotch, but the man only catches your ankle with his large hand. You could feel the warmth of his skin through your sweatpants, the sensation that brought warm tingles through your body when you were in the bar, only sends a wave of fear crashing over you.

“Yes I did, but for a good reason!”

“Really? What reason was that!?”

“They were trying to kill me!”

“I don’t believe you!”

“I-”

Before he can finish his sentence, gunfire explodes over your head. Sparks fly as bullets crash into the dumpsters and rip through the night air around where you and the man are standing.

There’s a large black suburban parked in the street that runs behind Duke’s where you’re found the stranger with the body. Three men stand in front of it all in dark clothing and each one is  holding a pistol pointed directly at where you’re standing. 

“Holy shit!” You scream, but the stranger tackles you back behind the large rusting green dumpster that juts out and gives you cover from the blaze of bullets.

His body lays over yours, curving protectively around you, and his arm is behind you head so when you hit the ground, your head doesn’t. The impact of the cold, wet, concrete beneath your body jostles through your system, but you can’t focus on it too much, not when the man’s entire body is laying on top of yours and it feels as if he was made especially for you. 

He lays in the cradle of your thighs, wonderfully broad and hard, the muscles of his body contrasting to the soft curves of your body underneath your clothes. It left very little to the imagination, well… not little. 

It’s enough to make a girl forget that he’s a murderer… No, what am I saying!!

You shove him off of you and cower back behind the dumpster, the sound of gunfire filling your ears and making you realize exactly what you smelled on the man earlier that you thought was smoke. 

“Baby-” He says reaching out to comfort you.

“Don’t touch me! I’m not your baby!” You swat his hands away from you pressing yourself back into the wet wall of the alley. 

The smell of mold and trash was rising all around you in an unholy mist. The wet ground soaked into the soft fabric of your pants and left stains that you didn’t want to think about what they were. 

“Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit-” It comes out like a sickening mantra as you rock back and forth, hands on your ears to make the sound of the gunfire stop.

I’m going to die here. In this dismal back alley. In front of this gorgeous murder. If I had know that I wouldn’t have spent so much of this week studying for a mother-fucking physics test!

“Sweetheart!” The man shouts to catch your attention, but you don’t look at him. 

“What in the devil’s ass is happening?!” You shriek.

“Listen to me!” He shouts louder over the sound of gunfire and takes your cheeks in his rough palms to make him look at him. His green eyes are brilliant in the light, but filled with a determined fire that makes you suddenly feel very safe despite watching him kill someone and the active gunfire bouncing all around you. 

You wanted to trust him, but you also didn’t want to be on the news or used as a cautionary tale for mothers to guilt their daughters with. 

“I promise that nothing is going to happen to you.”

“How can you guarantee that?!”

“Because I don’t break my promises.” The determined grit in his eyes hardens as they sweep over your face. “I will explain what’s going on. But first I have to go talk to them.” He releases your face, but hesitates. 

The man wasn’t bothering to duck and cover, in fact each time a bullet ricocheted off the side of the dumpster he didn’t even flinch, meanwhile the sour taste of bile was rising into your mouth and you were sure that you were going to throw up. Panic was setting in, and your heart rate was getting dangerously high as anxiety and fear flickered along your nerve endings. 

Oh my sweet goodness he’s mentally unstable.

“Actually.” He sighs and flashes an awkward smile. “I don't want to lie to you. I’m going to go kill them. Don’t move.” He reaches into the waistband at the back of his worn jeans and pulls out a gun. 

Has he had that this whole time? HOW did I not feel it? 

“Wait what? Don’t go out there!” Your fingers fist in the front of his jacket, the fear of him leaving you more than the fear of him murdering you. At this point it was either be killed by the beautiful stranger or killed by the other guys, and being killed by the other guys meant that you’d have to meet someone new and look where that had gotten you tonight. 

“They’re not exactly going to leave on their own.” He cracks a smile despite the situation. “But promise me you’re not going to move.” His smile turns into a concerned frown, eyebrows furrowing together as his eyes settle on you once more, steely and unyielding. 

“I promise.” Your voice comes out shaky and not at all what you sound like. Truthfully you were surprised that you got anything to come out of your mouth that wasn't vomit.

He nods once. 

When he leaves, you wait exactly three seconds, counting each of them out in your head before you take off in a dead run for the front door of Duke’s bar and into the safety of the street beyond without looking back while hoping that all of this has just been a bad dream. 

Coming back to the apartment feels surreal, crossing through the living room like a Salvador Dali painting, and finally closing your bedroom door and locking it is like a mirage. 

You weren’t sure how you made it back here, only that you did, and that was all that mattered.

Kay and Liza weren’t home, predictably, but you would have tried to call both of them if you hadn’t dropped your phone in the cluster fuck that was everything that happened an hour ago. Because on top of everything now you didn’t have any way to contact your friends and let them know that you’re alive and okay.  

Your body was still buzzing with the anxiety of everything that happened, mind going a mile a minute the longer you allowed it to bathe in the memories of being shot at and watching the stranger kill those men. 

The stranger that somehow was able to trick your radar.

I just need to breathe, relax, and- 

You turn around towards your bed expecting to go to sleep and forget all of it, but the thought stutters to a halt as you realize you’re not alone. The green-eyed stranger is standing there in the center of your bedroom. He is holding a bundle of your clothes in one hand and your empty school backpack in the other. 

“What the fuck?!” You scream and reach for the Strawberry Shortcake bat your dad bought you when you moved out, hefting it high on your shoulder preparing to swing. “What the hell are you doing here?”

He raises an eyebrow at your awkward stance. “Why are you holding a bright pink baseball bat?”

“All the better beat the shit out of rapists who break into my apartment in the middle of the night!”

“What happened to murderer?” The end of his lips lift up in a smile too perfect to be real. He almost seems to be enjoying this, like he thinks you’re being cute and not accusing him of something terrible. 

“That too!”

He laughs at you, but then his smile slips into a frown.“Why did you break your promise?” You don't understand why he looks like a kicked puppy at the thought that you broke your promise. 

Of course I didn’t keep it! I was running for my life to get out of the way of the millions of bullets pointed at my head!

“What?”

“You promised that you would stay there and you didn’t. You could have been killed.” Worry flashes in his gaze, and your eyes drop to the flecks of blood on the outside of his jacket that remind you of everything this man had done tonight.

“Oh, well excuse me for breaking a promise I made to a murderer!” 

“I’m not a murderer.” 

“If the boot fits!” You snap back. “You showing up in my bedroom certainly seems plenty murdery. That and you going through my underwear drawer for a little souvenir.” Your eyes narrow in suspicion. 

“A souvenir?” The man laughs at you again, his shoulders shaking. He’s still wearing the same clothes he was in the alley, and again you’re momentarily stunned by how attractive he is.

“Why else would you be going through my drawers? And how do you know where I live!?”

“That’s not important right now.” The man shoves the bundle of your clothes into your backpack before moving back to the chest of drawers in the corner of your bedroom for another handful.

“What the fuck do you mean that’s not important right now? And what the hell are you doing?”

“I’m packing you a bag.”

“What? Why? So it’ll look like I ran away?!”

Oh holy fuck he’s still going to kill me!

You swing the bat as hard as you can, but the man raises the backpack to block your attack. 

“Calm down Derek Jeter! I’m not going to murder you, please stop saying that.”

“Why?”

He frowns and shrugs his shoulders. “Because it’s hurting my feelings a little bit.” 

“Hurting your-” You shake your head in disbelief. “Look, I have no idea who the fuck you are or why you broke into my apartment but-”

“Hi. I’m Russell.” The man now identified as ‘Russell’ holds out his hand to try and shake yours. 

That’s obviously a fake name. 

You stare at him blankly. “Are you insane?”

“No, I just told you, I’m  Russell. And we have to go.” He retracts his hand and begins to shove clothes into your backpack again.

“I’m not going anywhere with you, crazy! I have class in the morning and an exam in two days!” You heft the baseball bat higher on your shoulder as a silent threat.

Judging by the way he blocked your attack so easily a few moments ago, you didn’t have high hopes. But you did think that if you screamed loud enough your elderly neighbor, aptly named Willy due to the many, many times he’d flashed Kay, Liza, and you “accidentally,” would come over at least to see if you had any extra magazines to take back to his hoarder apartment that was stacked floor to ceiling with yellowed newspapers long out of print. 

Russell sighs, and looks from the bat to you, shoulders relaxing a millimeter, but there’s still something determined in his gaze. “I understand that you’re scared, but those guys, they saw you with me.”

“So?”

“So if I leave you here with no protection, they’re going to come here and take you.”

“You don’t know that!”

“Yes I do!” He replies, the edge of his voice is tinged with anger and frustration. 

“How?”

“Look!” Russell holds up a battered phone. Displayed on the cracked screen is a message thread of texts to an unknown number. Russell clicks on one of the pictures that was sent an hour ago, about the time the two of you met.

As it grows larger on the screen you recognize the two people in it. It’s a picture of Russell and you kissing at the bar. Your eyes are closed, hands curved over his shoulders possessively, while you smile into his mouth.

The memory of the kiss sends a warm tingle down your spine as you remember how good the kiss was. It was definitely in the top ten, hell, it was number one. 

Don’t be seduced by his charm and good looks! You saw him kill someone tonight! Not to mention he probably killed those other guys that were shooting at you.

Russell swipes his finger over the screen again, this time the picture is of him and you talking, your face on full display. You’re laughing at something Russell said with your right hand resting on the cool bottle of beer you never finished. Honestly, if anyone was seeing those photos for the first time it would look like Russell and you were together. 

“You took pictures of me!?” You shout. “You’re a fucking freak!” 

“Sweetheart, listen to me-”

“I’m not your Sweetheart. You’re just some random murder that I met at a bar!”

The things that I’ve said tonight for the first time could be an SNL skit. Why me?

“For the last time, I am not a murder! And I didn’t take those photos. The men who were after me did.”

“So? Why would they care about some random girl?”

“Because they don’t know you’re some random girl I met! They think that you’re important to me and until I figure out who they sent these pictures to, you’re not safe.”

“Can’t you text them and say that you just met me tonight? That it’s a pure coincidence?! That I’m not important to you.” You point at the cracked phone, waving your free hand frantically at it.

Russell laughs at your question. “Are you kidding? Do you think they’re going to believe me?”

“I don’t know! And how would they know where I live?”

“The same way I knew how.”

That is a good point. How did he know where I lived?

You hesitate, gaze flicking over where Russell stands with your backpack in his hand, but another idea begins to wiggle from the depths of your mind. “Wait. Is this some kind of kinky thing you do? Some fetish? Pretending to be a spy or that people are after you just to get yourself all hot and bothered?”

“What?” Now it’s Russell’s turn to look at you like you’re crazy. 

You take that as confirmation. “It is! Holy fuck, that is so messed up.”

Wow forget murderer, he’s an actual psychopath. Why the hell did I drop my phone?

Kay and Liza weren’t going to be back tonight. Especially not if they think that you took “Russell,” if that really is his name, back to the apartment. You had no other way of contacting them, except with your laptop that was sitting closed on your bed behind where Russell was standing. 

“Wait a minute. I’m not a spy.”

“Exactly, that’s the point! You’re pretending to make me-”

“No, I’m not. I promise all of this is real!” Russell sighs frustrated. “I know that you don’t want to believe me, but it isn’t safe here. And I can protect you!”

“That’s exactly what you would say to kidnap me!”

“Sweetheart. I am not going to kidnap you, I’m trying to keep you safe. I mean, if I have to kidnap you I will-”

Your eyes widen and you heft the bat high on your shoulder prepared to swing.

“Sorry, that was a bad joke.” He holds up his hands in surrender, flashing an apologetic smile. “What would it take to make you believe me?”

It was the question that you had been contemplating since he’d protected you in the alley. You knew nothing about him, didn’t know what he did for a living, and you’d only just learned his name. But despite everything that happened there was a little part of yourself that wanted to believe him. You wanted to believe everything he was telling you, well, not the part about you being in danger and the idea that people now wanted to kill you, but the part about being able to trust him. 

You think about the way he made you feel at the bar, when he listened to you complain about your physics test and made you laugh. You’d trusted him then, enough to go home with him or at least, try to go home with him. 

“I don’t know.” The bat slips a little bit from your shoulder with your honesty. “Do you have any character references?”

Russell cracks a smile. “Isn’t it a little early for you to ask me about my old girlfriends? Don’t think any of them would be willing to say anything good about me either.”

This time you can feel a little smile begin to tug at the end of your lips, one that Russell notices. 

“I know that you’re scared.” He takes a tentative step forward. “But I promise that I will explain everything to you, answer all your questions, but all I know is that you’re not safe here. And I can’t in good conscience leave, if I know you’re in danger.”

The look in his eyes had the determined fire you’d seen many times tonight, but there was something honest about it. They saw through you, and even though you had spent most of the night terrified and believed him to be a murderer, you didn’t think that someone like that would be so determined for you to go with him. 

It felt like two parts of your head were at war. You wanted to trust Russell, you didn’t think he was lying to you, but you had seen him kill those men. And there was an unfortunate part of you that worried he made all of this up to kidnap you. 

But I think if he meant to do that… he would have jumped me the minute I walked into my bedroom, he wouldn’t have said “hi.”

“I know this whole thing sounds crazy. But the last thing I want is for you to die because of something stupid I did. Please.”

You bite the inside of your cheek thinking about Kay and Liza. “If I leave, what about my roommates? They live here too.” 

He rubs the back of his neck. “I’m not going to sugar coat it Sweetheart, there’s always a chance that they’ll be hurt, but with you gone, there’s also a chance that these guys will focus more on finding me.”

“So basically you can’t guarantee their safety?”

“No.” He drops his gaze for a moment, but then he looks at you again. “But I can guarantee yours and I don’t want to take the chance with your life. And my brother is smart, maybe he can figure out a way to keep them safe too.”

You stand there for a moment contemplating what he’s saying, the memories of everything that happened tonight rising up in an unrelenting wave, not just cowering behind the dumpster, but the kiss the two of you shared, and the way he made you laugh.

I want to trust him. I don’t think he’s lying, I don’t think he’s going to hurt me. You think to yourself, and then the inevitable thought comes. I feel safe with him. 

“Do you promise that your name is Russell and that you’re telling me the truth?” You ask one more time to make sure.

“Yes.”

So you take a chance and hope to God that you’re not wrong. 

“Okay.” You nod, lowering the bat entirely. “I’ll go with you.”

He sighs in relief. “Good.” Russell holds out the backpack towards you. “You should probably pack this. If I had my way, there won’t be much in here besides underwear.”

“You’re such a guy.” You roll your eyes and take the backpack from him, but you can't help the smile that curls on the end of your mouth.

Russell returns it, pleased with himself that he'd gotten you to smile again. “That's better than you accusing me of being a murderer.”

“Jury’s still out on that one.” 

“But you have to admit… this did make you forget your physics test right?”

He's not wrong... but you don’t think that this is better.

A/N: I had so much fun with this one. I hope y'all laughed as much as I did 😂

Thank you so much for reading! Likes, Reblogs, and Comments are not required, but are always appreciated! I love hearing what y'all think! 😊 If you'd liked to be added to my taglist please let me know!

Taglist:

@roseblue373 @livya99 @mrsjenniferwinchester @zepskies @louisanalady

@yvonneeeee @kr804573 @waynes-multiverse

[dark-lord-of-awesomeness]

Okay, so I've been thinking about it for a while. Cat Stan au where Stan accidentally becomes campus cat for Backupsmore (I hate this name sm I'm never getting it right augh). Then he meets Ford and Fiddleford there. Shenanigans ensue. Maybe Fiddleford actually catches on Stan's attempts to ask for help this time (Ford would be extremely oblivious let's be real here)

Stan Pines, less than a year after getting kicked out, picks up some cursed object and gets turned into a cat. Life is over for him, lost in some college town he'd never heard of, miles away from home.

Right until he realizes all these college kids love him. All he has to do is look sad and they'll feed him and let him crash in all the warm buildings. In a few short months he's got a dozen names and his picture on half the doors telling people not to let him in. No one listens to them, because he's a charming angel :3

Life's great! He doesn't need anyone like this, and surely this will wear off, and no ones noticed his car parked in the campus parking lot! (He is panicking. No idea how to fix this and when will someone notice and what's he gonna do if he's a cat forever and-)

Right until he sees Ford, his bro. Coming out of one of the science buildings like a ray of destruction and hope. Ford can help, because Ford is a genius!

But also he cannot let Ford see him. Not after how they separated and Stan couldn't even make it a year without screwing it up.

This is his thought process right up until Ford pays him the slightest bit of attention, then he's all about making Ford his new BFF college savior, sneaking into his dorm, eating his pens, trying to meow SOS, the whole works.

Ford brushes this off, because he's Ford, but Fiddleford, his roommate, who is there watching this cat try to write and meowing SOS and is clearly trying to tell Ford something, does not. He's convinced Stan is not a normal cat.

But not that Stan is secretly Fords twin, he thinks Stan is either some kind of demon or fae, trying to kidnap his unique six fingered roommate. He can't say that though, because Stan is beloved across campus and especially by Ford, so now he's a one man army against a conspiracy that isn't happening.

Cue shenanigans as they uncover all the other conspiracies actually happening and Fiddleford and Stan's are fist fighting in the parking lot while cuthulu is being summoned in the library and neither of them notice.

Hmm. I've become invested. -_- I'm onto you.

[astracora]

Drunken Confession - Poly!LADs

Characters: Poly!LADs x gn!mc

Warnings: Drunk LADs, Fluff

Word Count: 3086

Written: 11th March 2025

Notes: Established-relationship with gn!MC with all LADs, with my personal pov of the game and lil headcanons littered in. Unnamed MC, but using my personal MC's basic appearance and adjusted backstory. I take some liberties with what the game offers me. I... genuinely got a bit too emotional working on this. Anyway, I finally finished it. I'll be honest, it's very funny being autistic aro-ace and writing for an otome game, literally zero parts of me have a comprehension of romance. ANYWAY, Enjoy! Also if you want to know what I imagined the boys drinking, obvs Sy was his good ol' Gin Fizz, Caleb was a Sour Apple Martini, Xavi got a Starfruit Paloma, Zayne got a Bailey's Chocolate Liqueur, Raffy got a Sea Breeze.

Now Playing: To the Wilder, by Woodkid

Masterlist AO3

<- Caleb <-Zayne <-Xavier <- Rafayel <- Sylus

You're running late, dodging people on the pavement, when you get the call. It's one of those moments you really envy Xavier's ability to teleport, late after a meeting with Captain Jenna.

"Hey- Shit, sorry!" You speak to someone you almost barge straight into, there's noise on the other end of the call, but you can't stop to speak, rushing and rushing. "I'll be there soon, the report took longer than expected."

"Cuuuutie, you've abandoned us!"

"Fish, give me the phone."

"Rafayel, did you down that drink? We haven't eaten yet."

You feel the laughter bubbling in your chest, as Raffy, Sy and Caleb argue on the other end. You hear scuffling, and someone shushes them, as another voice rings out. "Darling, take your time, we can wait. I would rather not get called out because you got injured trying to race to us."

"I'll- Sorry sorry- be careful Zayne, promise."

"What I'm hearing does not fill me with confidence."

"Fish, don't drink anymore until we have food."

"I'll be there soon!" You have the image of a bright red Raffy, sprawled out over a restaurant table, and force yourself to run faster.

A month long mission, dragging out for longer than you had ever wanted, in which you hadn't been able to see your partners. Calling them, and messaging them on the few small moments of freedom, but otherwise you had been too busy. Arriving back in Linkon had filled you with the kind of impatient joy that you normally had waiting for an event planned months in advance, or a parcel you'd ordered moons ago. Except more intense.

It wasn't the same hearing their voices, when you had grown so used to living with them. Seeing them, touching them, having the comfort of them when nightmares shocked you awake.

Waking up to a cold empty hotel bed, and having to drag yourself out of your bed for coffee. Cold floors and quiet room. You were sure you'd been so fiercely independent before, or perhaps just better at ignoring the ache of loneliness when there was no one around you could trust to rely on.

Especially when you'd thought you'd lost Caleb for good.

You think about waking up one morning during the long month, aching after a bad fight with a wanderer, still too far away from the people you care about. The pain in your back, stinging, the ache in your residual limp a reminder of how hard you'd been pushing, just to get home quicker.

Then your phone had vibrated, throwing itself off from where you'd haphazardly placed it on the side table. As you retrieved it from the floor, messages outstanding.

🐦‍⬛ pretty bird 🐦‍⬛: Try not to miss us too much, Kitten, and make sure you let us know if you need anything.

🐠 cute fishie 🐠: cutie! cutie! look at this crab it's almost as cute as you. come home soon.

⛄️ sweet snowman ⛄️: Remember to take your medication, I want you returning to us healthy.

⭐️ little star ⭐️: Sorry I couldn't keep U company on this mission, Starlight. Make sure UR careful.

🍎 partner in crime 🍎: pipsqueak i got a new recipe to try when you get back. make sure you get back safe alright?

A reminder that unlike all those times before, waiting in the darkness when the world tried to press down on your chest, that you had something to return home to.

It's still a great relief to be home, as you see the restaurant doors, and the promise of family on the other side. You push the doors open none too gently, wincing yourself as you hear them swing open, and feel eyes focus on you. Cheeks suddenly far warmer than you'd like, and pulling at your one bracer with your metal hand. Twisting the elastic as you apologise to a waiter, and find your way to your partners.

They sit around a table, chatting and drinking, and when they feel you approach, you face the full force of five people you love with your whole heart, happy to see you again. Taking hands to join them at a homecoming.

Dinner passes, sating the fact you have not settled properly in weeks, and drinks flow. Rafayel sobered up at some point while eating, only to join you in trying cocktails, picking them out for each other as you tasted ones you've never had before. You try to shush him as he grabs your hand and pulls you into his lap to sing at you when a familiar song comes on over the restaurant speakers. Only for Sylus to assure you that he'd rented the place out, and no one would have an issue if you chose to dance on the table.

Which got you a particular worried look from Caleb, who you know had seen you get that level of drunk more than once growing up. Though Sylus had seemed smug, almost daring you to do so, as he'd pushed another glass into your hands.

When you'd joined Zayne, he had begun to talk to Caleb and Xavier about long term illnesses that could arise from extended space-travel, a topic you can't believe he's touching on while his cheeks redden further thanks to the chocolate baileys he's drinking. His hand grabs your hip, pulling you down into his lap, chin resting on your shoulder, to peer over at Xavier who is recalling details from his own travels. It is hard to focus much on the conversation, when he stops talking and begins pressing kisses into the back of your neck, causing you to squirm in his lap.

His chuckle is low and soft, fingers drifting under the fabric of your shirt, and you grasp his hand to entwine your fingers. Cold metal against his cool ice familiar skin, "You've gotten drunk Zaynie."

"With the safety of those I love, I believe I'm allowed to be so." You can't even begin to fight the smile that crooks your scarred face. You can feel the scar tugging a little as you focus your eyes on him, on the starry eyes and the red cheeks. Your other hand reaching behind you to brush fingertips over his face, the heat of his drunken bliss. It is a grounding feeling to touch him, in the same way as when he seeks out your hand to squeeze for a reprieve when his busy brain runs too fast.

"The snowman's melted again." Xavier speaks, drinking a tall spiralled glass of Star Paloma, though his starfruit has been stolen by Caleb who is chewing it alongside a wedge of lemon.

"He's happy!" Raffy calls from the side, reaching over to grab a handful of strawberries from the centre of the table. "You're eating lemons again, apple pie."

"I like sour food, maybe that's why I like you, fishie."

Another chuckle behind you and to your side as Sylus rejoins you at the table, with another tray of snacks. He slides into the seat next to Zayne, tugging you over a little so you're stuck sitting awkwardly on them both. It cannot be said to be comfortable, until an arm wraps around your middle and pulls you back, "You should eat some more, I doubt you were taking care of yourself on that mission of yours."

"Watching me with Mephisto again?" You tease, no heat in it, you hadn't spotted the familiar crow, but there was little irritation in knowing Sylus worried for you, and wanted to see you, even if it was just through his crow's eyes.

"I just know you far too well, Kitten."

It's a safe bet, you think, terrible at remembering to get things done when you're done with a day of fighting, just wanting to crawl into bed. So you try to reach out to grab some strawberries too, only for two arms to keep you restricted. Zayne makes an unhappy noise behind you as you move, and Sylus chuckles at his new found game, like a cat with a toy as you wriggle. Extending your hand out as far as it goes.

Sometimes you forget how strong they are, Zayne who rarely shows his physical strength, and Sylus who constantly holds it back, only to be reminded when they're feeling particularly clingy. Or when you desperately need the toilet during bed, and neither wish to relinquish their slumber.

"Caleeeeb." You call, making grabby hands at the plate you can see but can't reach. Trying to fight down the smile that wants to escape as you feel the rumble in chests against your back.

He looks over from where he is stirring a drink for Rafayel, and laughs, "Did you get caught in a fiery blizzard there, Pipsqueak?"

"I'm starving, and thirsty, and I can't get back to base camp, help!"

"Oh no, rescue is on its way." He waves his finger casually in the air, floating the plate over into your hands, so you can fall back against your personal limpets, and shove some fruit into your mouth. Dripping strawberry juice down your metal arm.

"Be careful." Xavier extends a tissue to you, only for Zayne to take it, so he can clean the mess up with hands far more carefully than you'd expect when someone gets drunk. Surgeon's hands through and through, you suppose. Even when inebriated, he cannot help but be a careful carer.

"Messy Kitten." Is spoken into the side of your head, as a hand brushes against your mouth as you eat. "Whatever would you do without us?"

You make to bite his finger, only for him to flick your forehead with a laugh, "I'm very capable." You sniff, turning your head away in a false huff, as he nods, some of the humour leaving him as his eyes turn molten. Watching you with pride.

You feel your chest turn just as warm, that familiar small flame that is nursed everyday by affections, blossoming like a flower.

"I know."

"But you need us toooooo, right Cutieee?" Rafayel moves over, sitting on the table now, kicking his feet out so he can lay them over yours and Sylus' lap. He knocks a couple of glasses over, thankfully they're caught by Caleb and Xavier's fast reflexes.

Having them watch you, despite the time it's been, the fact that to some degree you have gotten used to having them all around. A familiarity, a comfort, there is still something very heavy about the focus of their gazes. A reminder that they are five incredible people, who find solace and love in you, and each other, as you find in them. It is terrifying, in the best of ways. It still heats your skin, and makes you feel like fidgeting, however. "Of course." You speak, and it's soft, and it's warm, but it's truthful.

They are family, home, and safety.

When you walk through the doors, you see them and you know that you can lay down weapons and take off masks that keep you standing against the world.

You can breathe and you can live. It is the assurance and the confirmation, that there is nothing that you can ask of them, or tell them of, that will leave you standing in the cold, hurting and lonely and missing connection ever again.

That in no world, in no time, in no eventuality, will you not trust them, or adore them.

That you can survive alone, and you can be happy alone, but there is no substitution for how blissful and how joyful you are, when you are with them.

It's the very promise, that no matter how lost you get, they will find you. Chasing out fears you've held since your earliest memory.

The embarrassment makes you down your drink quickly though, avoiding knowing eyes, and watchful hearts.

When you finally leave the restaurant, heavily tipping waiters who likely had not expected their evening to stretch on as long as it had to six nigh rowdy customers, it's on light feet. You are pleasantly tipsy, the kind that comes from good company and delightful food, topped with drinks you balance with water.

Wary of the fact you have not slept well, and still a little alight from the long month of fighting, that leaves a feeling of preparation under your skin until you go through the routine of returning to your home.

You and Rafayel sing happily, walking down the street arm in arm, wobbling about, with the other's wary hands reaching out to keep you from straying into roads.

Zayne holds onto Sylus' arm as they walk, and you think you hear Sylus trying out some of those deadpan jokes from the horrible book you left on his desk for a laugh. You also are sure you hear Zayne laughing, soft and under his breath.

Xavier is nigh on asleep, head resting on Caleb's shoulder as bed beckons. Your best friend offers to carry your partner, who shakes his head, that he's fine, they're almost home afterall.

It is a happy buzz, so unlike times in the past when you had sought out reprieve in the floating sensation. Dimming the sharp edges of fears of abandonment and aching agony of self-hatred.

There is no pain, no anger, no loss, and when you finally see home, your feet are even lighter. The familiar doors like a beacon. You release Raffy's arm, turning on your heel and bounce back a little, "Last one there's a rotten egg."

Then you run, laughing.

"Pipsqueak, be careful!"

You almost slip, feeling your drunk fishie hot on your heels, your best friend racing after you with your partner, who stumbles a bit, but catches up quickly. You push your hand against the lock, pushing the door open, and feel the collision at your back. Falling through the door and out over the floor.

The gravity catches you, along with mist, as the four of you float a little in the air from where you almost hit the ground.

Sylus and Zayne look down over the four of you, and you are gently deposited on the ground, in a pile.

"Good reflexes." Xavier exhales, looking way more awake, even though his pretty eyes still swim with the drunken haze. He rolls over and pushes himself up, detangling himself.

You can feel Caleb's head against your chest, his laughter soft, he turns his head so he can look at you out of the corner of his eyes, "You're such a troublemaker."

"Me? I was having a fun competition."

"My head's swimming." Rafayel groans, clinging to your waist.

"Makes a change from the rest of you then, fish. Up you get." He's pulled up and deposited on his feet, then caught when he wobbles by Xavier, "The fish needs water, to the surprise of no one."

"Silly crow needs his feathers plucked." Rafayel huffs, but is quickly handed a glass, that he downs.

You and Caleb are offered a hand each, Zayne smiles down at you softly, his face still red, his warm eyes glowing. When you both take it, he lifts you both, into his arms, wrapping one around each of your waists and leads you to the kitchen bar where Xavier is now filling more glasses, and collecting hangover medication.

He bumps into the corner of the table as he blinks his tired eyes, and hisses a complaint.

You sit on one of the chairs, as you watch the group mill about. It hits you then, the exhaustion. Heavy and clawing. The walls of your house, and the people who make it a home, reminding you that you can rest.

As you place your cheek down on crossed arms over the bar, watching them, you feel the comfort settle around you like a blanket.

"Let's get you to sleep, Starlight."

"Too much fun for our Kitten, mhm?"

Always too much fun with them, not a single dull moment, feeling them pull and draw out the parts of you that were stronger as a child. The joy, the thrill of life, the satisfaction, all the feeling of being able to just exist and be silly, to have fun. Lost somewhere along the way at the pain of an unknown timeline, at the constant hurdles of life demanding you grow stronger when you had no ground to stand upon.

You felt yourself become more you again, over time. Reminded of how to live, and not just survive. No longer a raw nerve on the top, chafing under the weight of your heart, your aching feelings, or the metal hand at your side.

"Pipsqueak, drink this, then we'll go to sleep."

"You have the day off tomorrow, Cutie, let's have a lie in."

"Maybe then we can go to Destiny Cafe, Darling?"

As your eyes drift closed, heavy and tired, you exhale out a long sigh. Releasing all the weight of a long mission, everything that weighs down on your soul, pulling apart the shell of your heart, and extend it out as a gift for those that you would lay your life down for.

Your very soul.

It is easy, then, to say words you used to only be able to say when drunk. Hiding behind the loss of inhibition to share what you always wanted to share when sober.

Your eyes flutter open just barely, finding their figures, and you feel the scar pull as you smile, soft and small.

"I love you all so much." It feels a little wet, emotional, but it's warm, so happy and so relieved.

Because you adore and you love and you fight for this very home with your entire being, and that will never not be anymore true.

Inhales of shaking breath, tremors on the edges as vulnerability is offered up willingly. "We love you too."

When you wake up tomorrow, you'll say it again, over and over and over again, until they tire of hearing you. Until they can hear you say it in their dreams, and until it becomes as familiar to them as their own names.

You can think of no better use of your breath, and no better use of time spent, then reminding those who are home for you, that they are so very precious, and so worthy of every fight to keep safe.

That even if you should die tomorrow, you will always keep them embedded in every part of your soul, and seek them out in eternities and cycles to come. Your soul belonging with theirs.

[howdeepthegrave]

Agathario AU. Sporty botanist Rio Vidal screws up her leg pretty badly on a ski trip with friends. She ends up a client of physical therapist Agatha Harkness. They're both smitten at first sight, but Rio figures someone as gorgeous as Agatha must already be in a relationship, while Agatha of course understands the need to keep things professional, as well as figuring that someone as gorgeous as Rio must already be in a relationship, and besides all of that, Agatha is nearly three months pregnant when they meet (she wanted a kid and her gay friend Wade was willing to help make it happen) and definitely figures Rio would not be interested in, you know, all that.

Over the next two months, Rio deduces that Agatha is not in a relationship, but also notes the pregnancy and, with her silly chivalrous brain, decides that Agatha must be a damsel in distress who was cruelly seduced and abandoned. She starts to offer to help Agatha with things, which of course Agatha turns down due to the need for professional distance. Things take a turn, however, when they both end up at a party thrown by mutual acquaintance Lilia Calderu. Rio points out this is well outside of the context of her therapy, so will Agatha at least sit and talk with her like ordinary people? They chat for a long time sitting out by Lilia's pool, and their feelings for each other only deepen. When Rio leans over to try and get even a little kiss, Agatha allows it in the heat of the moment, then allows Rio to drive her home and to stay the night.

Things get real, and they both feel awkward about it, Rio because she's worried she took advantage of Agatha's hormonal/emotional state, Agatha because BREACH OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT and also she's never been one for hookups.

The next week, Rio manages to transfer care to another PT, and Agatha is sort of devastated that she'll never see this cool person again. Imagine her surprise that weekend, then, when Rio shows up at her place with flowers and endless words of apology and offers to take her out to breakfast. They go out and eat and decide hey, they can just be friends, right? Just good pals. Buddies, even.

As soon as they're back at Agatha's, they hook up again. In the afterglow, Agatha's starting to spiral into childhood trauma related thoughts that she might be the world's worst person, Rio's starting to wonder if she has some weird pregnant lady kink, and they're both feeling super ashamed. When Agatha actually starts to cry, Rio holds her to try and comfort her, but Agatha just asks her to go, so... Rio goes.

They don't communicate for a while. Months, even. Finally, after months of pining, Rio reaches out via text message and asks to meet up. They meet at the same diner near Agatha's place where they had their breakfast date-thing, and they try to talk through all the stuff, and Rio is very much now certain she does not have a pregnant lady kink, but Agatha feelings, and Agatha knows she has feelings for Rio but surely they can't be reciprocated, especially not right now and JEEZ, her back has been killing her all day.

Rio offers to drive Agatha home after learning that she walked to the diner, and Agatha agrees, but they've barely gotten underway when Agatha says they should turn around and head to the hospital because she thinks she might actually be in labor. Rio rushes her there, gets her checked in, then at Agatha's request hurries over to Agatha's place to grab her go-bag and bring it back to the hospital. Once Rio returns, she just sort of stays and tries to be supportive, to the point that once things are super underway, she ends up in the delivery room as Agatha's support person.

That day, Rio learns that childbirth is even more gross than she ever imagined and that she wants to keep being there for Agatha, as well as for this tiny new little guy she just got to meet who is named Nicholas. Agatha learns that Rio is a little queasy around blood, but can withstand near-crushing grip forces to her hand like a champ and is very, very cute when she's holding Nicholas and talking to him in a very serious voice.

They actually don't define their relationship until Nicholas is around a year old. Rio is around all the time, and she and Agatha started sleeping together pretty routinely at some point. It takes Nicky at his first birthday party toddling over to Rio as she arrives, grabbing at the leg of her cargo pants, and calling her "DAD!" very excitedly to make Rio and Agatha sit down and realize that they are a thing.

(Agatha blames the choice of the word "dad" on Nicky's frequent playdates with the Maximoff twins; she's pretty sure Nicky just assumes the adult who is around most frequently who isn't "mom" or "mama" is "dad." Rio doesn't mind being called dad because it's sort of hilarious.)

They don't get married until Nicky is three, but they're already acting like an old married couple long before that.

[mj23thefrenchgoat]

MJ BY ALEXIA CHERY

“Scoop: she's not shy!”

Together, they played nearly 300 matches for Bourges (2016-2019), Lyon (2021-2024) and the French national team. Alexia Chery describes the evolution of her teammate, on and off the court.

Do you remember your first meeting with Marine Johannes?

We signed for Bourges the same season, we both arrived at the same time, I was coming out of the INSEP and she was coming from Mondeville where she had started to play professionally, but it was her first real contract outside her region. So we got on quite naturally, right from the first days at the Prado, in pre-season, and we immediately got on well off the court, which brought us closer together.

How would you describe her as a teammate?

In a nutshell, I'd say she's a … (she laughs). Not bipolar, but two-faced. She has what she shows, what she wants to show and give to people outside of her circle, and she also has another side, where she gives herself authentically to those close to her. It's really two different characters. Everyone thinks she's shy, but scoop: she's not! She's careful about what she does, what she says, she's not necessarily at ease with the media, but she's managed to build her career in spite of that, and she doesn't care.

With the media, the evolution is impressive. Have you noticed it?

Yes, I was amused to see it. It's a great evolution, she's come a long way! Seeing her now quite at ease in interviews makes me smile, because I know where she's coming from. Like seeing her speak in English in interviews after her games in New York. And at a time-out in New York, being interviewed and asking to speak in French makes me laugh too, because it's Marine. I feel she's more comfortable with it, and good for her. She's been through a lot that's made her grow up.

Do you think there's a lack of understanding surrounding her, some people, in the face of her level, her talent, expect her to be, in addition, the vocal leader she's not?

Yes, I think so. People, the media, expected a lot from Marine very early on. She made the decision - and it was the right one - to concentrate on the court. In the French team, as at ASVEL, she's not the one who's going to speak up, who's going to shout the loudest, but she's our leader on the court. And we teammates know that, we know her. And I'm repeating myself, but we expected a lot from her at the start, and she wasn't necessarily ready for all that. But I'm proud of her, because she's managed to stay true to herself despite what people have said, especially during her years at Bourges when she was very young.

And in the game, because she can pull off some amazing moves, should we also give her a higher percentage of missed attempts?

In every team, there are leaders who are more likely to make mistakes, and that's normal, and some players who come off the bench, make a mistake and go back to the bench, and that's normal too. I've played a lot with Marine, and I'm used to her being the player with the margin of error. We all know that she's capable of great things. And it's the area in which she has made the most progress which is smaller than it was five years ago or even last season.

As time goes by, are you still surprised by some of her passes?

Less and less, if at all. I must have caught one or two balls in the head, so I know now that you always have to have your hands ready! When she manages to trick the defense, she often tricks her teammates too, so we always try to be ready. I remember one match where she put the ball in the referee's head. It was unintentional, but the referee's hands weren't ready.

In terms of popularity, have you noticed any changes in recent years, particularly among young people?

Above all, she's become more aware of certain things. At first, she felt she was only a basketball player, but now she's starting to realize that she's more than just that for some people. She's taking more initiatives, doing more things off the court to show that she can be a model to other girls and young basketball players. The WNBA has enabled her to do that. And when we go to venues in France or back home at Lyon, you feel that people come for Lyon, yes, but also for Marine. When we were younger, the players we admired didn't necessarily have the opportunity to be much more than basketball players - even if some of them did it very well. But today, with the evolution of social medias and the fact that we're more and more in the media spotlight, it's part of the job. And Marine can handle it, so that's even better.

Source: Basket magazine - April 2024.

[moodyysworld]

There is Something Wrong With This Town—Matt Sturniolo

Intro: Y/N who is 18, has been noticing how almost everything is going wrong in her life after her mom passed away. Her dad decided it was best to move away from the city and move to a small town. She’d never been in a small town before, let alone live in one. So it’s a big change. Continue reading to see what happens...

Warnings: Nothing much this is the first chapter, most first chapters are boring af, but other than that just backstory and plot. also this is a slow burn and gonna have a lot of angst in it.

A/N: FYI this is my first time actually posting a story of mine so keep that in mind while reading. also my grammar sucks sometimes so DON'T judge...anyways enjoy...

Chapter 1: New Territory Unlocked

“Home sweet home,” My dad says to lighten up the mood as we stand outside looking at our new house. The house is nice, it’s a two story house small but big enough, especially since there will be only two people living in the house.

“What do you think kiddo?” My dad glances over at me before looking back at the house. “It’s…nice, better than I expected that’s for sure,” I say kind of quietly not really interested in talking. “Damn!” My dad says looking at his phone all of a sudden and down the street, “Hun, do you mind walking down the street to find the moving truck, the driver is lost.” He rolls his eyes muttering something under his breath

“Um sure I guess, might as well look around while I’m at it,” I say not really serious.

I walk down the street to find literally nothing, no truck or even people outside. “What the fuck..” I mutter under my breath—, all of a sudden I hear a slam-type sound and I immediately look over and see a boy walking back inside, guess he was taking the trash out?

“Where the fuck is this goddamn truck,” I say out loud hoping no one heard, I mean no one’s even outside so doubt it—. I get to the end of a road and turn down the next street and what do I find? The fucking truck in a stranger's driveway — how damn hard is it to follow the GPS.

“Hey!” I kind of yell so the man can hear me through his open truck window. The man jumps a little at the sudden voice, “God you scared me.” He says putting a hand on his chest, as I look at him through the window. “Oh sorry, well um-my house is down the road,” I say opening the truck door because you got me fucked up if you think I’m walking back. “Oh okay,” he starts the truck and pulls out of the driveway, then drives down the road I told him to go down. “It’s that house” I point to my dad standing outside, “alright,” he says before pulling into the driveway.

“Finally” I hear my dad say as he walks to the truck.

Time skip—-(I’m not gonna put you through more of that)

I look around my room, it’s not big but it’s enough, the closet is a small walk-in closet. for the past few hours I've put up the bed and curtains along with some posters just so it's not boring for the night, the rest I will figure out eventually.

While putting up a poster with tape, my phone makes a notification sound, I finish putting the poster up, and then go to my phone thinking it's just one of my friends from the city.-- I see that it is a text from some girl on Instagram, someone I don't know.

"Hey, this is Jessie, you can call me Jess. I live right across from you, and I can see your window from mine-- wait that sounded like stalker vibes, anyways I just thought you seemed nice and we haven't had a new family in town for a few years so I just want to say hi."-- I read that wondering how on hell she even got my Instagram....and yeah she's correct she does sound like a stalker...

"Oh hello, I'm Y/N. and nice to meet you I guess" I text back.

She texted back almost instantly, and replied with, '" If you want I can show you around town before it gets too dark or just show you to the park."--weird to ask lowkey, but I mean I have nothing else to do besides my room and I don't want to do it anymore tonight.

"Okay sounds good just tell me the time I guess," I reply back and set my phone down, going to do something but right when I'm about to walk away I hear another notification sound,--damn how fast this girl gotta reply, I mean at least she ain' dry.

I pick up my phone and read what she said, "We can rn, if you are free ofc."-Oh didn't expect it to be now...but okay. I reply back, "Sounds good I will be outside in 10 I guess."- I reply back. I go to my closet, and get some comfortable clothes, and change, because I am in clothes that I wouldn't want to be seen in outside, I then put on some shoes and head downstairs. my dad went into town so he's not home at the moment but I doubt he would care, I will just text him if he is worried.

I get a text from her saying she's outside waiting, so I head to my front door and go out of the house making sure I grab my key on the way out and lock the door.--"Hey." Jess said when I closed the door to my new home, "Oh hey," I said back, "Okay so since it's almost dark, I was thinking I would just show you to the park and go from there. I mean there's nothing really to see of the town in the dark." I nod back and start to walk with her as she moves her feet forward to go to the sidewalk.

"Um so what brings you into town, like why did you move here?" ugh I was dreading that question since I landed a foot in this town..."Oh, nothing really.., My dad just thought it was best for us after everything happened in the city" I said back at her hoping she would drop it...

"Okay well maybe it was for the best I mean small towns mean fewer wild things right?"--maybe she was right but thank god she dropped that topic..." yeah I guess" I said back as we continued to walk down the sidewalk and saw the park in the distance. "oh well there's the park" she said while starting to walk a little faster-- dang must really like the park I think as I start to speed up too, but I mean me too.

We walk in silence as we finally make it to the park and go to the swings, there is a group of kids around our age I'm guessing, just sitting on the other side of the park but also kinda just joking around and running around. "who are they" I say not pointing at them but making sure she knows who I'm talking about. "Oh, that's a group you don't really wanna hang out with. but I mean if you do wild stuff I guess that's the group for you. I haven't really talked to them so I don't know much about them." she says back to me kind of quiet not wanting them to hear us talking about them.

"oh hey, I just remembered there's a party tonight, well there's one every Thursday and you so happened to move here this Thursday, I'm going and a few friends of mine, do you wanna come?"--Oh fuck a party?...why the one fucking day I move there's a fucking party.."No thanks and I should prob get home it's getting really dark." I'm not really a party person well I've been to them but never enjoyed them, and the last thing I need right now is to be around drunk high school kids. "okay well I'm actually gotta go to the party it's already been started since 7 so um be safe going home" she says and gets up and waves before walking away. I continue to sit on the swing and look at my phone.--Fuck its already 11 pm..how the fuck-,

I get up and walk down the street that has the back of my yard and just walk quietly- suddenly I hear a loud slam and a dog barking. what the fuck-, I look over after jumping a little from a sudden sound and see a boy that looks to be my age and holding a leash that is connected to a dog. "Trevor, calm down it's just some drunk girl" I hear him say--uh rude- "excuse me?" I say a little rudely "Huh" He says back. "I'm not drunk," I say back. "oh well sorry I just assumed you were,- wait I've never seen you around"

"Yeah I just moved here," I say normally after understanding he probably thought I just was walking back from the party or something. "oh well I'm Matt" I heard him say while he started coming closer. "I'm Y/N nice to meet you I guess" I reply back but he gives me a weird look "What?" I say "Oh..nothing just don't really hear a lot of people around here say nice to meet you. we kinda just are a close town so everyone most likely knows everyone or at least knows of them" He says back. "Really?... that's weird. I'm from the city so you really don't know anyone unless you have spoken to them..."

"So what are you even doing out this late if you're not drunk?" he questions me,- damn does everyone outside at night drunk here or something.. "oh I just was with someone, they showed me to the park a while ago but we got carried away and it's late now," I reply back.

"Yeah guess so...um-well I gotta walk my dog so have a nice night" He replies back to me,- thank god it was getting awkward...but he was nice I guess.."oh-uh you too," I say back and walk away to my house.

He lives right down the street from me, he looks like the guy I saw putting the trash out but I don't think it was him, his hair was a little longer.

I walk into my new home through the back door and I see no trace of my dad but I do see a piece of paper on the oven as I walk past "There's pizza in the oven...Love-dad" the note reads, I look in the oven and see the pizza. I take a slice and walk upstairs guessing my dad went to sleep, which is good. hopefully he can sleep without having to remember everything that happened in a room now that it's a new room and house...

The end

A/n: The first chapter is done, lowkey kinda boring but does give the plot something at least. anyways other than that butter me up and call me a biscuit.

[skywalkerthrawn]

since i'm more active here now, i thought what better way to reintroduce myself than with my homebrew Thrawn & Friends Polycule

let's start at the top because it's the easiest: wutroow and ar'alani are 100% happily married because, well, you saw how they were in the ascendancy trilogy. to me they kinda parallel thranto in a way. and then of course once lani meets faro she's obsessed. brings her back home and says "look i got us a new girlfriend" and wutroow is obsessed as well

then ar'alani and borika being exes is about how they definitely crossed paths when they were both irizi, and who am i to not smoosh two beautiful women together and make them a thing. they broke up though because lani went into the military and borika married bomarmo (canon relationship but ask me about my extensive nonbinary he/him butch bomarmo hc)

the bomarmo and eli vanto one night stand was @doctorwenqing's brilliant idea. she wrote a fic about it and i was obsessed

now let's look at eli vanto. i firmly believe he had a crush on anakin skywalker growing up (those who have read postmortem will especially Get It), and then of course in my head he's married to thrawn, they're endgame in every universe. but that's not all, which brings me to my favorite poly ship ever, ✨elithramakro✨

thrawn and samakro definitely had a love-hate thing going on in the ascendancy days, and i have a lot of thoughts about how samakro tackled his feelings towards thrawn after thrawn got exiled. in my mind it takes years for samakro to admit that he did love thrawn, in a way, but eventually he does. and when thrawn returns home they reconcile and rekindle their relationship in a more healthy way

and then elimakro has definitely been written about at length and discussed a lot in fandom over the years (i highly recommend @elivanto's elimakro fic "one man's hell is another's god", it'll change your life) but i firmly believe those two would hit it off and bond over how utterly insane serving under thrawn was. anyway in my mind they all eventually get over themselves and get together as a triad, though samakro is still in a happy married relationship with thalias (or as i like to think about her at that point in the timeline, patriarch mitth'ali'astov)

and of course thalias's crush on thrawn is very easy to see in the text if you're looking for it. i personally don't think it was reciprocated, but i respect people who do

then, thrawn definitely had a one night stand with padme and anakin in alliances. the chemistry he had with both of them is undeniable (padme and thrawn both topped anakin, if you ask me)

and finally, thrawn's other boyfriends: nuso esva, uingali and jorj car'das. i love all of them and in my personal version of the timeline they're not the "main" relationships, but they're still very important to thrawn. a more recent addition to my "thrawn boyfriends" roster is captain enoch, who is not on here because i drew this diagram a while ago, but when it comes to him, i like to imagine that during the time thrawn spent with him on peridea, they both took comfort in each other and relied on each other in a lot of ways

my beloved gilad is not on here because i haven't really figured out how to fit him into this timeline (and never felt the need to), but trust that i love pells/thrawn too

and finally, this is my personal headcanon and not really based on anything except vibes. feel free to ask about any of these because this whole thing is the result of literal years spent thinking about thrawn&friends every day, and i'm more than happy to elaborate on every part of it. and if you have your own version of the throlycule™, feel free to share!

[holyblonded]

Who is chickie's football idol ?

Imagine in an alternate universe estrella and chickie meet

— chickie grew up watching old clips of alex scott and was obsessed with the way she played. even though she’s not a fullback, she admired alex’s intelligence on the pitch, her leadership, and how she always seemed so composed under pressure

— she used to secretly practice some of alex’s passing techniques in her backyard, even though no one was watching. she’d watch old arsenal games and try to copy how alex moved, especially how she read the game

— when she found out alex scott was also an arsenal legend, it felt like fate. she always dreamed of playing for arsenal one day, but knowing her idol had played there too made it even more special

— meeting alex scott for the first time was terrifying for chickie. she could barely get a word out and was just standing there nodding while internally screaming… on tv. leah and Beth had to come and save her.

— alex was super kind to her and told her she had been keeping an eye on her progress. chickie nearly passed out on the spot

— whenever she’s nervous before a game, she sometimes watches old clips of alex to calm herself down. it reminds her why she fell in love with football in the first place

— now that she’s at arsenal, she still can’t quite believe she’s walking the same halls as her idol once did. she hasn’t fully processed it yet, and every time she sees alex at a game, she gets all starstruck again

— she refuses to tell anyone how much alex scott means to her because she thinks it’s embarrassing, but everyone knows. caitlin caught her watching a “best of alex scott” compilation at 2 AM once, and chickie has never recovered from the teasing

alternate universe where estrella and chickie meet

— estrella would immediately take chickie under her wing, deciding on the spot that she’s her new little protégé, even though chickie never asked for this and she’s also like only two years younger than her

— chickie, who is naturally quiet and polite, would be so overwhelmed by estrella’s sheer energy and chaotic nature. estrella would be talking a mile a minute, making jokes, and chirping people, while chickie just nods along like “what have i gotten myself into”

— estrella would 100% teach chickie how to trash-talk, even if chickie doesn’t actually use it. she’d be like, “no, no, if someone comes at you, you have to say something back. here, repeat after me—” and chickie is just standing there, horrified

— despite her teasing, estrella would be super protective over chickie. if anyone tried to mess with her, estrella would be the first to step in, no hesitation

— chickie, who usually struggles to stand up for herself, would start gaining a bit of confidence just from being around estrella. like, estrella hypes her up so much that chickie starts believing in herself more

— estrella would force chickie to do fun things outside of football. like, “we’re going to a concert. i don’t care if you have anxiety, you’re coming.” and chickie, despite her nerves, would have the time of her life

— estrella would 100% make chickie sit through an in-depth analysis of every pair of custom cleats she owns, even though chickie is too polite to tell her she doesn’t actually care that much

— they would have an insane telepathic connection on the pitch. estrella’s creativity and chickie’s vision would link up in ways that would break defenses apart effortlessly

— overall, estrella would be the chaotic, overprotective older sister chickie never asked for, but somehow, it would work. chickie would balance estrella out, while estrella would push chickie to come out of her shell. their dynamic would be hilarious and also kind of unstoppable

[tkwrites]

https://youtu.be/MpT0dmoGDc8?si=j0prm2EESbpCVtKK

About 6 minutes into this video Jack says how Quinn likes to talk things through. I know it's related to his game but it reminds me of his relationship with Sarah.

Like they both prioritise communication and talking things through in such a mature way, most the time. I do appreciate Sarah's tendency to run or decide to give up when those conversations or situations turn to anger, cause like honestly same. As much as she's perfect in my eyes I appreciate so much you showing those moments when she mightn't be in the right and Quinn calling her out on it leading to her admitting it rather than a huge fight. I know in the future you've got plans for some not so quickly resolved fights but I just love how you manage to show such a mature relationship. These guys are my comfort characters for sure!

Anyway back to the original point, you'd written in the messages snapshot how he calls her after every road game, even if just to leave a voice message. This had me thinking how perhaps since the elimination snapshot especially he's realised he never really wanted his support system to talk through every play etc with him like his parents would. Just to listen to his personal opinions, critiques, and thoughts. To offer support if warranted, or praise as well but not necessarily wanting to disect it all.

I kind of love the habit of calling her after every game, more so to wind down. Like I am the same and like to chat to someone when I've finished work or an exam in college or something. But not even to necessarily talk about it, just to talk. And since Sarah, maybe Quinn has realised his want to chat after a game is more for comfort not an analysis. Like still for sure would call his parents after games but maybe not every one, he's got Sarah on the phone or at home to cuddle with while he gets his emotions out.

This was longer than I expected and full of alot of scrambled thoughts, it might be hard to understand but I hope you get the general idea. I love how you're characters don't feel two dimensional, there's so much more depth in themselves and their relationships.

Hi my lovely,

Thank you for sending in such a thoughtful ask! I'm so touched that you think about my characters this much.

This ask came in about 15 days after the ask that spurred off the upcoming angst fic, and I couldn't help but combine them, though I hope you don't mind that I took my own spin on it.

While I can see where you're coming from with the idea that Quinn "never really wanted his support system to talk through every play" etc., I think this sets a very dangerous precedent. The notion that one person could fulfill every one of someone's needs is a Hollywood fantasy and frankly incredibly unhealthy. We all need a village of people around us to meet our various needs. Expecting one person to do it all is setting both of you up for failure.

In many ways, the angst fic is exploring what happens when you cut off an old form of support in favor of a new one, only to discover that the best thing would be to combine them both.

I hope you enjoy what I came up with!

Hurt & Healing will be posted at 5pm MST.

[slfcare]

the most difficult thing about growing as a person socially, as in getting out of your shell and noticing that you are, is that there will still be times when it doesn’t feel like you’ve grown at all! times when you can’t really connect with anyone around you, times when you fail to enter into an existing conversation, times when you say the wrong thing (or nothing at all when in hindsight you probably should’ve). but that’s also kind of the best thing, because that’s the thing that helps you realize that sometimes, it’s not you or your lack of skills or any shortcoming. sometimes certain environments just aren’t for you and certain people aren’t your people, and that’s okay. that’s human. it’s okay to not feel the progress you have made all the time.

[kizzer55555]

Core Gems

So when a ghost becomes injured, they have a last ditch defense where they retreat into their core. And I mean, injured badly where their body is rip apart to the point they can’t hold a solid form anymore. And they basically go into a hibernation state until they are strong enough to form again.

Ellie, Danny, and Dan are all injured in a final battle against the GIW. The organization was destroyed and the ghosts were safe but the halfas ended up being so injured that they reverted to core form and then went to sleep for a bit. When they woke up, they were still weak but at least recovered enough to gain consciousness. And realize…they are in some kind of auction…in the middle of a heist. It appeared that two furries (one in a bat costume and one in a cat costume) were ducking it out. And they…they were a necklace. All three of them had been turned into a necklace with their cores as gems accompanied by sapphires, pearls, and opals. And frankly gorgeous craftsmanship as the metal was crafted around their cores as if to cradle them and the other gems.

Unfortunately, they were too weak to take a form properly, they could still feel the strain on their bodies. But at least they could still communicate through their auras. Then the cat lady punched a hole in the glass container surrounding them and grabbed their necklace.

However, the bat grabbed the other end and it resulted in a sort of tug-a-war. Meanwhile, Danny, Ellie, and Dan were having a back and form commentary on the situation and what they should do. Completely unheard by the other party.

In the corner of their eye, the three halfas finally noticed a third contender. Some kind of clown who was…hold on…holding a gun?! And it was pointed straight at the two fighting furies who had yet to notice him. The ghosts’ protective instincts went into overdrive and they frantically tried to shout, yell, move. Just do something to warn the two but their cries fell on deaf ears. All they succeeded in doing was faintly glow which immediatly caught the attention of the fighting duo. The two turned to look at the strange necklace but right at that moment, the clown fired and a gunshot rang throughout the auction room. Having no other options, Danny and the others poured every ounce of ectoplasm they had to try and phaseshift, making the two furries intangible as the bullets passed right through them, but in their shock, the two jumped away in opposite directions and accidentally ripped the necklace apart. Gems and pearls went flying and the three cores bounced along the ground.

Luckily, the two finally noticed the clown and went to deal with him and his minions who had appeared. Seemingly putting their fight on hold and forming a temporary truce. The three halfas could only watch as the battle finally wound down, ending with the cops barging into the place and arresting the clown and his grunts, the cat managing to escape with half the scattered gems and pearls from the broken necklace along with a few other jewelry pieces (none of their cores though) and the bat leaving through a skylight.

The auction continued and in the end, despite being broken, their necklace seemed to have caught someone’s interest. A man named Bruce Wayne bought up every piece of the shattered jewelry wear. The auctioneers appeared relived that the item managed to sell in the end and gratefully gave it to him.

Bruce had no idea what happened at the auction, but he could have sworn that some of the gems faintly glowed right before he and Selina were shot. If the necklace was some sort of magical item, then he needed to understand exactly what has been brought to Gotham. It was unfortunate that Selena had taken some parts of the necklace but he utilized his vast wealth to make sure all the other parts ended in his possession. Now he would take them back to the mansion for examination.

[lordsalemander]

Is anyone else still caught up on the parallels between Imogen and Opal?? Because I am.

I was revisiting my c3e92 and c3e93 live thoughts and came across two big points:

Firstly the parallel of Ted disappearing in order to protect Opal with Liliana disappearing to protect Imogen. And the contrast of Ted, who did so by becoming an inseparable part of Opal while Liliana tore herself away desperately trying to separate herself from Imogen. Both done out of a will to protect the other. (Fyi This was written during e92 before the Aevilux reveal)

Secondly, after the Aevilux reveal, this connection hit me: The locket Imogen got from Relvin (potentially carried by Liliana) carried her baby fingerprint and the words “The better halves make/become a better whole.” A sentiment that Imogen tries to use at the Malleus Key and on Ruidus to get through to her mom. And who is a near perfect literal manifestation of this? THE AEVILUX. The people who split their souls in two (or were born separate in Opal/Ted’s case) and live independently before reuniting again and becoming more powerful for it.

Now imagine Imogen and Opal were to meet (obviously possible as both are being pushed to fight Predathos/those trying to free it) and Imogen repeats the locket phrase and something about it sounds so familiar to Opal, but she just can’t remember it. The group realize that there are gaps in Opal’s memory. Eventually Imogen is able to restore Opal’s memories, living through them alongside Opal in the process (kind of like how she projected herself into Laudna’s head in e103). Then Opal helping Imogen get through to her mom in turn. Or even just them fighting side by side to prove how much stronger you can be if you stop running from your better half. That coming together is a way better way to protect someone than running away and fighting those battles alone.

TLDR: I need Imogen and Opal to meet and talk this instant. Please Mattholomew Mercer I would do anything.

[random-autie-fangirl]

I drew another Chara- living with the Dreemurrs edition

"The King and Queen treated the human child as their own. The underground was filled with hope."

I don't like this as much as the last one but oh well... I ended up rambling a huge amount in the tag, so if you want details and headcanons about the actual drawing again, you'll have to look pretty far down this time, sorry (Also, I ran out of tags after a while. Tumblr is tired of me, lol. I might reblog this more tags later if I remember what I was going to say.)